I’ve been using Adblock for years now, with very few problems. However, it accidentally got turned off a few days ago and, not realizing this, I logged onto the Straight Dope. What happened then was eyeopening. As far as I’m concerned, the site became basically unusable. Ever page I opened came with a large and very obtrusive advertisement, taking up a rather large portion of the screen. Each of these had to be turned off before the page could be conveniently read. I guess some folks have become used to this, but I wasn’t. I reinstalled Adblock ASAP, and the problem went away. I figure I’m already paying Comcast enough for my Internet access, and if some site doesn’t like this, they can take a flying f**** at a rolling donut.
Advertising is lying and manipulation by definition. So, none.
How many sponsored websites are there that aren’t just off-shoots of the sponsor, but are otherwise independent?
So how much are you willing to donate to keep the internet ad-free?
No, they’re lying and just saying “content at no cost”. Honest peddlers put a price tag on their goods. They don’t “give things away” with Trojan horses and psychological warfare hidden inside.
You’re essentially saying “Why would anybody just give candy away on Halloween? If you didn’t want to eat razor blades, you should have bought your own candy at the store”. No, I’ll continue to remove the razor blades, thanks. If their business fails because enough people aren’t slicing their mouths up, I certainly won’t shed a tear.
I currently pay $50/month for internet. I’ll continue to pay $50/month. The internet already is ad-free for me. I don’t really care if people like that or not. It’s 100% my choice.
Beats me. There’s certainly websites out there that run some sponsored content in among their usual articles.
In a sense, it’s not my problem. Content providers will need to find a way to get money that doesn’t require a tech arms race with their community. Traditional web advertising barely works now with the industry down to a couple major companies that pay pennies to blast your site with clickbait and garbage. It’s not my job to solve that for them and it’s not my duty to accept the potential for malware under the current situation.
Again, TANSTAAFL. Websites cost money to operate. What’s your plan?
My plan is to not run a website. If websites want a different plan from me, well, TANSTAAFL. Send me a check and we’ll talk 
It’s not my business. Therefore, I don’t need a plan. If they want to make money off of me, they can do it honestly or not at all.
That $50 you pay each month? None of it goes to those who operate websites, so basically you are saying you want the content from all those providers free of charge.
edited to add: Pray tell us how they might do it “honestly”-Show us how it could realistically be done otherwise.
Well, considering that $50 is almost all profit for Charter Cable, why don’t the websites ask Charter? Meter my internet usage, pay the sites I visit a pro-rated amount based on how many (non-advertising) bits my browser requests from their site. Something like ASCAP does with radio stations and music venues.
But honestly, why should I care? Why is it my job to tell multi-million or -billion dollar businesses how to extract more of my money?
Why the fuck would Charter want to do that, and even if they did how much do you think each website would receive that way? Do you even understand how many websites there are out there? You think most of the websites out there are run by multi-million or billion dollar companies? :eek:
Why the fuck would ASCAP want to do that? And even so, do you know how much each individual artist receives that way? Do you even understand how many musicians are out there? You think they are all millionaires?
Charter sells me the internet. I pay them. If other companies are upset that they aren’t getting paid too, they can ask Charter. Seems fair to me.
But you’d think these people would ask themselves that before broadcasting all their valuable content for free into the ether. Not blast their content for free and then try and guilt trip me for charity after the fact, for their own boneheaded mistakes.
The bottom line is that it gets paid for or it goes away-period. You have yet to offer a single viable solution to your supposed problem.
What problem? I don’t have a problem. I surf the internet for a flat $50 a month and see zero ads. You seem to have a problem with that. But I don’t. What’s the solution to your supposed problem?
Have you ever checked out the Straight Dope Message Board?
And when enough people do that, one of two things are inevitable: Either the ads find a way to circumvent your blocking, or your $50-a-month internet service will be void of most everything you are now viewing for “free”.
Game on. Let’s see how the dice tumble.
What the hell does this even mean-“Game on.”?