Quite off topic, but I wonder what percentage of users actually click on advertisements intentionally. I don't think I ever have.

[quote]Final Edit: The overall response hasn't really surprised me now that I have had a bit of time to think about it. Bungie.net is a site for gamers, so a lot of the people who adblock are going to be on the site. I'm not going to give up trying to explain why it's a bad practice, but I will quit in this thread for now. I am glad to find out that I'm not alone in my thoughts on the subject, however, I did think that more people would be sympathetic to the issue once finding out how it hurts the proprietors of websites just trying to pay their bills. Yes, I know that not all sites run ads to support their sites, and that some go overboard with ads, but there is a simple solution to that, and it's really simple. Don't visit those sites. Make them change their ways by not visiting. Edit: After reading the responses here, I imagine some of you did not read the article, or just don't care how adblocking hurts sites like this, and it's disheartening. I know I'll catch some flak for this, but I think this boils down to arrogance and misjudged value of your time. Surely 30 seconds of your time isn't asking for much. And sites like Destructoid tend to not run anything that is going to pop up on your screen or play audio without your permission. These are passive ads we are talking about people. To think that you can't spare 30 seconds of your time before reading an article or watching a video is really showing me how entitled people have become over the years, and it gives me little hope for my generation and the ones after it. http://www.destructoid.com/half-of-destructoid-s-readers-block-our-ads-now-what--247904.phtml [quote]BlockMetrics was easy enough to set up and monitor. At first, it was about 10%, then 20-something. When I dared to blink it just increased faster. Over a few days it never got better, averaging at an ominous 42-46% block rate. I thought their tech might have been flawed, so I performed my own tests and contacted another company who returned a similar result. This means that we're working twice as hard as ever to sustain our company, as if keeping a group of game writers fed isn't difficult enough. We see gaming sites shut down or selling out so often these days. Feeling my pain yet?[/quote] This doesn't just apply to gaming sites. It's become so easy to block ads that people really don't think about what they are doing. Sure, some sites go about putting ads on the website in the wrong manner, but a lot of the time, the ads are there to give you the content for free. I really encourage all of you to read the entire article, and while I know this is old, I just can't emphasize how big of an issue this really is. It seems innocent enough, but the reality is that everyone using an ad-blocker indiscriminately is slowly killing their favorite sites, most without even realizing what they are doing.[/quote] I care not for the plight of others, I block advertisements because I do not wish to buy and/or see them. Am I selfish? Probably. Do I care? No. Shoot me down for I care not.

If i like the website enough, ill unblock ads on that site. The only websites i dont block ads on are Bungie.net and Roosterteeth.com. Because their ads arent butt-blam!-ing retarded targeted google ads. I will never unblock ads on youtube, i find it ridiculous that i need to sit through 20 second ads id find on tv just to watch a two minute video.

I'm familiar with this argument, but there's one fatal flaw in it. I [u]never[/u] click the ads. The below is a simplified explanation of the revenue model, and my comments about who it effects. The proprietor of the website profits from ad revenue in 2 ways: paid ad time, and clicked ad referral. In the first scenario, the website receives payment for displaying the ads, a smart business will keep paying for ad space if there's an appropriate traffic or sales increase for them. In the second scenario, the website profits when someone clicks on an ad being displayed. When the user clicks the ad, they are directed to the business's page with the referrer being the website you were on. In both situations, if you don't click the ads you're not helping the website displaying them. If you're not someone who clicks advertisements on websites, then adblocking has no net effect on those websites. Additionally, if you own a website, and don't want people to block the advertisements you display, then put it in your ToS, and enjoy either the zero effect that change would have, and or a massive traffic decrease from people who can't be bothered by your bullshit.

Implying I click on ads anyway. Me having ad block just means that I don't have to see nasty ads on the website. The people using adblockplus are not the target audience of the ads anyway because you have to click on the ads in order for it to be recognized. I don't click adverts on site so they're not losing money on me. Adverts on videos are a different thing, however places like google are paying adblockplus to get their ads in anyways.

I've been using Ad-Block for so long that I almost forget ads even existed on the internet.

So where can I download Ad-Block?

Started a new topic: >Not using adblocker(4 Replies))

[quote]After reading the responses here, I imagine some of you did not read the article, or just don't care how adblocking hurts sites like this, and it's disheartening.[/quote] I know that adblocking hurts sites because of lost revenue. That's why I give a shit for small guys and turn adblock off for them. [quote]I know I'll catch some flak for this, but I think this boils down to arrogance and misjudged value of your time. Surely 30 seconds of your time isn't asking for much. And sites like Destructoid tend to not run anything that is going to pop up on your screen or play audio without your permission. These are passive ads we are talking about people. To think that you can't spare 30 seconds of your time before reading an article or watching a video is really showing me how entitled people have become over the years, and it gives me little hope for my generation and the ones after it. [/quote] Wrong. I hate ads. They are insipid, stupid, degrading and useless in trying to sell me useless crap. I've gotten to the point where I don't consciously pay attention to ads on TV or buy their shit either. So me blocking ads is me sending a message to the advertisers: -blam!- you. I'm tired of your shit. Go the -blam!- away.

I like how everyone's like "-blam!- YOUTUBE ADS, ADBLOCK AWAY! HAHA!" and yet ads on youtube are the reason why the website can remain completely free to use. Can't wait 'till everyone throws a shitstorm if they make you pay to watch or upload videos. I used to use adblock but then I realized how selfish it was, so I turned it off. And guess what? Having ads wasn't as hellish as I though. I mean shit, most youtube ads allow a "skip ad" button five seconds into the ad.

1. I don't run adblock for all the sites I go to. 2. I don't run adblock on sites that only have "passive" advertisements. 3. For 30 second ads, like on YouTube, the time adds up if you have to wait that long for every single video you watch.

Regardless of people's time part of it is also things like [url=http://news.cnet.com/8301-27080_3-20000898-245.html]this[/url]. Sure they pull them quick, and security suite does help but they are not fool proof. Having that extra layer of protection helps when a brand new virus launches and attacks another zero day exploit.

>OP

It's funny how I've gotten used to ads even if I have them displayed. I don't even look at banners or sidebars anymore.

Sorry but my time is more important to me rather than somebody getting paid off an ad. If I want to support you I will buy something from your site. I will continue to block out all of the ads because they are completely annoying and turn me off to supporting you all together. I do the same in retail stores that have their employees hovering over you trying to pitch crap. If that happens the wife and I will walk out of the store.

I pay for my internet. Therefor I will decide what content I allow to get through.