Why you MUST not use an ad blocker - unless you want to pay for content

[zf6hellion]

The only problems I have with ads are that they very rarely show anything that I actually could buy. Not that I'm strapped for cash, or that I actually want to buy anything from said ads, the problem is I'm always being shown ads for Windows 7, either that or loan offers and the like... for American businesses (Nevermind the fact that I don't own a business, and live across the freaking ocean).

So, maybe when advertisers learn to advertise things I can buy without needing to pay for international deliveries, or moving to a new country to get the benefits, then maybe I'll stop blocking them.

 

[Deamon002]

I'm not going to read all 270 replies to this thread, so if this has already been said, my apologies.

No. Freaking. Way. The constant commercials is one of the reasons I hardly watch TV anymore in the first place. But at least on TV ads come separate from the content - mostly. Whereas on the net, ads are shoehorned into pages, flashing and hooting at me, or even spliced into videostreams, covering up part of the image.

That would be enough to earn my undying hatred, but to make things worse, ads are frequent vectors for all sorts of malware. At least twice that I know of, my adblocker saved me from infection. Buddha knows what kind of crap it stopped from getting onto my machine (apart from ads of course) without me even noticing.

 

[Sennz0r]

Ah yes the classic public goods dilemma.

I never get any 30 second videos before the start of ENN, ZP, LRR or whatever. Probably because I live in the Netherlands. I only get those banners. They're a little annoying, but I wouldn't strangle anyone over them.

As for supporting what I like, I do that more often than not. I buy CDs from bands I like, or other merchandise. I don't pirate games, I buy books, and if I could I would even watch the TV shows I love from the original channels that air them, but HBO, CBS, FOX and whoever never allow me to since I'm not in the US. Well I can't up your ratings then can I.

 

[Spy_Guy]

-snip-

When content creators and websites agree to end the following, I will stop using adblockers.

1. Annoying multicoloured GIFs which cycle rapidly through a series of images.
2. Annoying Flash adverts which install LSO "super-cookies" on my system without consent.
3. Flash ads which play sound without consent.
4. Popups, often containing one of the above.
5. Failing to properly vet ad sources before using them, resulting in my computer being attacked through browser exploits.

I have run across all of these on a regular basis, some even on this site, when using browsers other than Firefox with a full set of flash and ad blocking addons. None of them are acceptable, in my eyes; sites like the Escapist spend tonnes of time and money on web development to have a slick, attractive website, then they coat it in annoying adverts which significantly diminish the user's experience. Some other sites have even caused financial damage to users by installing malware through adverts. It's not on.

This is the main issue for me. I find that you can get a lot of crap from adverts on sites, not to mention them being sound-playing obnoxious and detrimental crap. In general, a well-tuned ad-blocker is a huge bonus on sites you don't particularly care about and such.

However, I had no idea that the ad-blocker completely eliminates revenue to legitimate sites, and that it damages their interests in the long run. I'd pay for Pub Club membership just to be supportive (but fuck PayPal, and that's that).

In general assuming that The Escapist's advertisements are unobtrusive, I'd add the site to my whitelist out of support to the great content here.

If I was using an ad-blocker that is...
.>

 

[ethaninja]

They slow my load times, distracts me, and get's me very annoyed. No amount of technical babble will change that.

 

[JediMB]

The great thing about TV ads is that they never try to get you to download malware.

In a perfect world, where you could be guaranteed to not encounter any malicious "advertising", I could remove my ad-blocker altogether, rather than just disable it on a select few sites.

 

[gl1koz3]

Too many sites abuse them; you're collateral damage.

 

[Om Nom Nom]

I don't block ads. I do, however, block tracking cookies [http://www.getabine.com/] and scripted ads (inc. flash) [http://noscript.net/] that sometimes contain malicious code.

Those little, simple advertisement images at the top/side of the page? I don't mind those. The ones that flood fill the page and force me to sit through a minute long video that takes a good three minutes to load, or are ridiculously loud and/or filesize-heavy? You get the idea.

 

[Lord Honk]

What moves gets blocked. I have no regular filters on, but when I can't concentrate on the thread I'm reading because there's boobs jiggling or obnoxious WoW-like MMO trailers running, I sort them out.
Don't mind the ads inbefore videos, it's like TV xD

 

[BonsaiK]

I don't block adverts because I want to know what type of ads a site is willing to host. It tells me a lot about how much I may wish to support that site (or not).

 

[el_kabong]

Wait...they have programs that will let me block the ads? Thanks for educating me on this new and wonderful software, Kathleen. I'll download and start implementing it immediately. What a time-saver!

Kidding, of course. I have no problems with the ads except that the same ad plays each time within a span of time. A little variety wouldn't kill the site, would it? I guess I don't know the logistics of these things, but it seems that they could adopt a few different sponsors (or different content from the same sponsor), so if I feel like viewing multiple entries of a show one lazy, Saturday afternoon, they can be randomized so I won't have sudden urges to throw bricks at a pro wrestler I have no prior knowledge of or grudge against because I've been tormented by the same Slim Jim commercial dozens of times in the span of an hour. It's like those "soft" torture tactics people talk about where they play the Spice Girls on repeat.

 

[boholikeu]

I wouldn't use an adblocker if it weren't such a big security issue.

 

[CrystalShadow]

I've never used adblockers, and here I'm in the publisher's club.

But I do have to re-iterate a point about dangerous ads...

Now, I don't recall getting any malware from any sites I go to, but there was an ad once that crippled the site I was using.

And guess which site that was?

Mhmm. The Escapist.

The entire site was rendered 100% unusable for me entirely due to the advertisement on the site at that time, which was, if I recall, a Need For Speed ad that used really dodgy code which my browser did not like in the slightest.

When you consider that it caused my web browser to lock up, is it any wonder that people feel inclined to block these kinds of ads?

Seriously, I couldn't get on this site for a week.

That's counter-productive, and while things like that (or worse) are possible, I can hardly fault anyone for trying to block advertising.

 

[Kris015]

I will still block ads. Not on the escapist though (I'm in pub.club), but on other websites. I don't see the idea when i'm not gonna buy/try the product anyways.

 

[Jinjiro]

Escapist, stop being douchebags about ad blockers.
Your users don't owe you anything.

And the Escapist doesn't owe you thousands of hours of free entertainment. The Escapist is not a non-profit organization that exists to provide people with entertainment. I do not use time I could be working, sleeping or playing video games to dance for your amusement.

Why do people feel so damned entitled to free entertainment, they refuse to do anything to compensate it's creators - wether it be refusing to pay for merch, refusing to watch ads or outright stealing it?

Compensate creators?

You choose to host files publicly on the internet.

This is like painting on a wall and then asking people to pay for your brushes. You created the content before people can pay for it, its a risky situation.

Compensation and profit are two different things. Artists do not deserve to be compensated, as they are making something as the purpose. Contributors deserve to be compensated as it reflects people like them and that they want them to continue. People using ad blockers are therefore not supporting your work. So what? So, having ruled out the idea that you guys are artists, you're looking for profit, not compensation.

This dashes away any high horse mentality you could hold. You want to make money and you're annoyed people aren't letting you. Refusing to pay for merch? What the hell are you talking about. If they refuse to pay its because they don't want it. If they want it and don't pay they don't get it. Yeesh, they're not doing anything wrong by not buying everything advertisers tell them. What are they stealing exactly? What is it?

Thirdly can I just point out that people blocking ads aren;t necessarily doing anything bad for you from a business standpoint.

Everytime an ad gets viewed it shuffles along the cue. People using ad block clearly are not going to click on the ad. So, if these people do not use ad block, then the ads disappear faster and the advertisers get less traffic from it. Encouraging them to stop advertising with you. Do you have a response to this?

Please explain to us, in detail, how people creating content for a popular website is any different from people creating content for a popular television network.

Since I'm betting the cast of Dexter would probably be quite pissed off if they got told they were artists who only got compensation from people who 'choose' to contribute.

I really don't get people's problem with this. It seems fucking amazing to me that some of us have a problem with a system that allows people to make a living from creating online content that entertains people. That's kick-ass, if you ask me.

 

[dex-dex]

I don't have a problem with them. I only find it aggravating when i am trying to catch up on past episodes of whatever. and it is the same exact one over ad over again. I am stating to change it up a bit!

 

[Hybridwolf]

Adverts have recently started to annoy the hell out of me. Trying to watch something then listening to a dumbass MMO advert play music as loud as possible is not my idea of advertising. Turning on after an amount of time, not advertising. Showing breasts, really? Do these companies think these adverts are clever? Most annoying has to be that Glee advert. It was out in bloody september, and they are still advertising for a comption and the series preimer. If I'm trying to watch Nostaliga critic shows, I don't want to have to see that awful advert everytime I watch an episode.

So if I could, I'd block the adverts until such time that they treat the people looking at them with more respect.