Let me say outright that I can see how you might want to protect your computer from pop-ups that can never be closed or any other form of pop-up hell. That said, should you really be blocking all kinds of ads? even regular banners and text links that are no more visually obtrusive than any other web page element?
Why Do People Use Ad Blockers?
I have recently come across a post titled “Why You Shouldn’t Feel Bad About Blocking Ads“. In this post, fellow blogger Raygen brought forward several arguments to justify blocking ads on content websites.
I did leave Raygen a comment, but I’d like to further develop the argument here and reply to some of his claims.
According to the post, using an ad blocker -
Prevents the most common … virus and spyware infections
I don’t use an ad blocker and yet the only time I got infected by a virus was when I accidentally opened an email attachment with a keylogger. Using an up-to-date browser and a good anti-virus protects you from viruses – and ads isn’t where you get them from.
Prevent 3rd party ad networks from harvesting marketing and user preference information from the user.
Hey, cookies are your friends 
Seriously, cookies aren’t these malicious spies and they are anything but restricted to ads. As mentioned in the post itself, most sites “collect your data” for statistics – nothing to do with ads. Ad blockers are not the answer (to something that isn’t a problem to begin with, IMO).
Prevents Flash Player from grinding your browser to a halt.
If Flash is bringing your browser to a halt, you may want to upgrade/change your browser. Many websites use flash, so again, this isn’t about ads necessarily. Instead of blocking flash ads, just make sure you have the right browser and plug-ins.
Prevents you from seeing and helping those annoying MFA’s (Made for Adsense Sites) and helping their spam causes with clickthroughs.
You kinda lost me here, really. Ad blockers would, at most, block the adsense units on these sites. You would still be visiting junk sites all the same. They don’t get paid for your adviews, just for clicks. My advice is: try and stay away from MFA’s and if you land on one, don’t click on the ads. Fairly simple and doesn’t require an adblocker.
Blocking those truly annoying video ads that pop up on the middle of the page that get in the way of stuff.
I agree that some ads can be obtrusive. Here’s what I do when I come across such a website – I stay away from it and go elsewhere. It is their site and they have the right to put advertisement on it as they see fit. I have the right to not visit the site and that’s what I do.
As a web publisher, let me tell you this action is meaningful. Several years ago, I tried introducing pop-up ads on one of my main sites. Guess what? Traffic went down and I switched those ads off and found a balance of ads which my users don’t find too obtrusive.
Why I Think Using Ad Blockers is Unethical
A web page is managed by someone – more often than not, a self-employed webmaster/blogger. We work hard at creating the content and we monetize it (read this as “earn our salary”) by using various forms of advertising. It’s a fairly simple deal: we provide you with “free” content and in return you get exposed to the ads on the pages. You don’t have to buy anything, you don’t even have to click on anything, just let the ads be there. Personally, I don’t think it’s too much to ask for, in exchange for quality content.
As a web publisher, I try to serve my users with a fair balance of quality content, along with ads which are not obtrusive. No pop-ups, definitely no malware, no flashing banners. I make a large chunk of my revenue from CPM advertising – so I get paid for you to view the ads. Turn on the ad blocker and you’re taking away from my invested resources, without allowing me to create a stream of revenue.
Personally, I don’t visit MFA’s, and my adblocker is built in to my brain. Being someone that visits up to 100 blogs a day, I have learned to block out ads subconsciously because I see so many, and they usually don’t interest me.
The typical search visitor, will most likely now even know what an adblocker is, so I wouldn’t worry about it.
.-= Keith´s last blog post ..Make Money On Twitter: Ethical? =-.
On my main sites I rely on CPM campaigns, as I have a lot of targeted traffic. Whether people click on the ads, or how much attention they actually pay to them, is not really my concern. I get paid for views – and I am pretty sure my advertisers are getting a good return on their investment in terms of branding.
Ad blockers would have been a huge problem had they been prevalent, so you’re right there.
Twitter: AlisonMSmith
says:
I’m with Keith. My ad blocker is built in.
Personally I don’t care at all if people use ad blocking software — even though I never have. It’s no different than recording a favorite show and zipping through the commercials. I love my DVR and don’t have the patience (or time) to watch 20 minutes of commercial for 60 minutes of programming.
Those who buy commercial air time understand the user dynamic and adjust (by how much they spend, how visually appealing an ad is, etc.). As a webmaster, I have to do the same thing.
.-= Alison Moore Smith´s last blog post ..Static Landing Pages for WordPress Blogs =-.
Great point there, and as far as I can see the same is happening with online ads. I am seeing some very appealing dynamic advertising on my cat related sites. I actually get good feedback from users – they like the ads!
For me, ads blocking is ethical just and only if you have really slow internet speed.
.-= Dana @ Blogging Update´s last blog post ..HostNexus: A Cheap Web Hosting =-.
Twitter: fresheventure
says:
WOW – really well laid out argument! I couldn’t agree more. I’ve never felt the need to use an ad blocker. If I end up on a site that’s completely chaotic, I leave and don’t return. It’s really that simple.
I’ve never heard the side of the advertisers made before – good for you for pointing out the fairness in ads!
.-= Keller Hawthorne´s last blog post ..Do Bloggers Really Make Money Blogging? =-.
Twitter: woody79_06
says:
You bring up some very good counter points Anne. I knew this was going to be a good debate.
. Now for my counter argument.
1. Virus and Spyware are distributed through many 3rd party ad networks. As you can see from my blog the NY Times web site had ads pushing a rogue security application recently. Also, Facebook ads have recently been pushing rogues as well. I could cite many other online resources, however my GF has been hit twice on Facebook and once on a few other sites. A windows simply comes up and says you have been infected if you click anywhere in the window you are most likely owns. I recently uploaded a sample of a rogue named Vista 2010 to Virustotal.com and only two out of 30+ Antivirus vendors detected it…so the attack surface is there. Ads could be more trusted if the ad networks properly verified the ads before putting them live.
2. Yes Adobe Flash player can bring your browser to a grinding halt. This is especially true on Firefox and Google Chrome due to Adobe Flash terrible garbage collector. It doesn’t free memory like its supposed to even on the new version. I have box with 8 gigis of RAM and after 45 minutes on youtube its nothing to see Ie, Firefox, or chrome taking up well over 100,000 k of RAM in the task manager, and poorly coded flash ads can be a lot worse then ones that are coded correctly.
3. MFA are like spam sites just to show ads. Many average users get confused and click on an ad thinking its part of the site navigation. I see this tactic often and it can be annoying for people. blocking the ads ensure they don’t benefit.
4. I am glad you agree with me on those annoying video ads.
i do whitelist sites I like so their ads display if they are using them, but Its not wise to just trust any site out there to run scripts and ads, especially if its not a trust worthy site.
On a daily basis i see my snort logs at a site be loaded with Fake/rogue Av Landing Pages detected and other insideous spyware and malware infestations trying to get through my perimiter firewall appliance. The average user has no chance against the stuff that is out there today.
I am swamp and backed up right now tih computers to fix on my off time, I actually have to get started on one right now that is infected with two rogues now.
i’ll have to post a screenshot of one on my blog soon and show you what i mean…its insane what some of these ad networks push.
.-= Ron ´s last blog post ..Why you shouldn’t feel bad about blocking Ads =-.
I have to say my user experience as a web surfer is very different from yours.
I don’t think I’ve ever been served with ads that try to actively push malware my way on Facebook or on any other big legitimate website. Here’s a thought though – such prompts to download their software won’t necessarily be in the form of an ad – they can be as simple as a text link to their website, or, even more commonly, come through as a spam email. So, instead of teaching people to block ALL ads, maybe it’s best to educate them about what is or isn’t safe to download online? Seems to me like ad blockers are a bit like washing down the baby along with the bath water.
Being a web developer and the author of a programming blog, I mainly get traffic from computer savvy programmers looking for tips. It is this audience who I believe is most likely to use adblockers. Even so, the blog makes a fair amount of money.
It is true that perhaps without adblockers, that blog would make even more money, but I am happy with what I get.
.-= Victor´s last blog post ..Zuni Cafe in San Francisco =-.
See, that’s what bothers me. Those computer savvy surfers should be the ones to know better. They can easily protect their computer without any ad blockers, and if they are web publishers (bloggers or webmasters), I’d expect them to have more respect to how we try to make a living online while providing them with content.
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You do make some good arguments, though I think you contradicted yourself slightly. Near the middle of your post you wrote, “They don’t get paid for your adviews, just for clicks.” and later went on to say, “I get paid for you to view the ads.” I realize that in the first quote you were referring to AdSense, but MFA could also be a general term for Made For Ads/Advertising, it doesn’t have to be AdSense specifically. I’m not in any way saying that your sites have low quality content, I’m just saying that you are an example of someone who gets paid for ad views and there are others out there who make sites specifically for that purpose without bothering to create good quality content. -Max
I was thinking MFA as in “Made for Adsense” as this, I think, is the more common interpretation of the term. Either way, even if there are sites made solely for CPM advertising, the way to fight them shouldn’t be by blocking all ads – as that means punishing the good quality sites too.
BTW, thanks for the comment and sorry but I had to edit your name in the comment. I hope to see you commenting here again, but please take a look at the commenting guidelines – thanks!
Twitter: virtuosoblogger
says:
I think adblockers were great in terms of blocking popups but that was when i had no knowledge about this stuff and I think awareness is the key to it. People have to be aware that all the internet business strives on ads and if they are not shown, then the business will incur losses.
you have done a great job in creating awareness. Now we hope that readers understand the importance of ads in websites
.-= Gautam Hans @ Blog Godown´s last blog post ..5 Tips to Increase Productivity while Blogging =-.
Twitter: Ileane
says:
Hi Anne,
I figured that I would add the newbie point of view to this conversation. I say newbie because I don’t have ads on my main blog (which is wordpress.com) but on the blogs that I do have ads I haven’t cashed in on any payouts nor have I made a huge effort to do so.
I’ve learned a lot about the different types of ads and how to make money from them by reading this post. I admit my initial reluctance to read it because I’m not really and “ad” person, but I’m glad I changed my mind. This is a great conversation to have and I’m certainly going to share it where I can.
Now with all of that being said, I don’t have the adblocker simply because I just haven’t gotten around to installing yet. In fact I just heard about it the other day but I really didn’t think it is necessary for me.
However, I don’t think I would use the word “unethical” to describe it’s use. To me in order for it to be unethical it would need to be in violation of some sort of “code of ethics” for web browsing that I am not aware of.
Based on your arguments I think the word “unfair” or something similar comes to mind. But keep in mind that I’m a person that doesn’t like advertising and I’m actually offended to learn that just by viewing an ad I might inadvertently be boosting a company’s reputation.
Personally – and by that I mean – if I wasn’t a blogger (it’s easy for me to think back to June of 2009) I find that whole concept unethical. It reminds me of how years ago (and they probably still do it) when you went to the movies and they would send subliminal messages by showing you a quick frame of popcorn popping or a beverage being poured into a cup, just to make you go to the concession stand.
Thanks for the conversation and the enlightenment.
.-= Ileane´s last blog post ..What’s More Important? Your SEO or Your Readers? =-.
Ileane, you make a good point about my use of the word “unethical”. I don’t think it’s necessarily unethical for surfers to be using them if they’re not aware of the common business model for content websites.
However, I do think it’s unethical for bloggers/webmasters who either make money from this model at present, or who plan on using it in the future, to use a blocker and/or recommend that others do it too.
Twitter: jaiganeshv
says:
It depends from person to person, i think people that are very professional and don’t want any distractions mostly seem to block ads.. i dont do this you see
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I understand your viewpoints on the topic and agree to some extent but disagree the rest of the way. The first point I want to respond to is the commonly used argument “If you disagree with the site’s use of ads, go elsewhere.” There is a huge flaw in that statement that I’ve yet to see addressed. More often than not the ad agencies control what’s displayed on the site more so than the webmaster. Someone could visit a site daily for a week, come back the 8th day and find the site intrusive or deceitful. I know this because I’ve had it happen.
I believe in paying for the premium service (usually ad-free) of sites if available to support them and rid the site of ads but the problem lies before logging in. IGN.com is a great example of this. I became a monthly subscriber which claims freedom from ads but I get overwhelmed with them (and there are a lot) before I am able to go through the multiple pages to login. I believe it appropriate to use a blocker on this site since I’m already paying for the content.
Lastly, ad-blockers aren’t just for ads, at least not the one I use. There are a few sites I go to where their logo takes up half the page. Using the add-on I have I can have that logo not load at all while keeping the ads untouched. It makes the site easier to read and navigate and doesn’t hurt the revenues whatsoever.
Basically what I’m saying is there are quite a few legitimate uses of ad-blockers, in my opinion anyway.
Thank you for your detailed comment, Brad.
When I said “If you disagree with the site’s use of ads, go elsewhere.” I didn’t mean the content of specific ads. Obviously, that is not usually directly controlled by the site owner (although some degree of control is almost always available, it’s just usually too time consuming to deal with). I was referring to the site being “commercial” or “for profit”. Not all sites are that, and users have an option of choosing which sites they prefer.
I agree with you on offering an ad-free option for a fee. I do that with my largest site. It’s a forum/community site and users can pay a small fee for various benefits, including the ability to switch ads off.