Asklemmy

Wow, there are a lot of comments describing how neccessary it must be to use adblock. I don't think I can actually change anyone's mind here, but I'm going to share my perspective anyway:

While I don't agree with the statement quoted in the original post, I do think that ads are neccessary for most websites I visit to function. Not because of the content creators, but because of the companies running the platforms.

I know, ads can be problematic. But to outright block all ads is no solution. Privacy and data protection are very important to me, so I'm against every form of targeted ads. But just generic or maybe contextual ads? I don't see any harm in that. Malware is mentioned often in other comments. I disable JavaScript whenever I can. That's absolutely enough for blocking all ads to not make any real difference in terms of security. Although I have to admit that blocking scripts also blocks some ads.

But still, I see all ads on YouTube and search engines for example. And I'm happy to see them. It's incredible that such platforms, providing so many people with access to so much content from so many other people can actually exist. There are a lot of resources needed for this.

And if I still don't want to see ads simply because I don't want to? Then I don't have to, even without any adblockers. If I don't think a website is worth the ads it thinks it needs to show me, then I don't have to use it. I can just leave. If it is easy to provide the same service without ads then there must be countless alternatives already.

Yeah I use adblock.

If you use adblock, you don't care about creator's point blank

Depending on what kind of content they serve, they usually still make a lot of money.

to block ads

I remember the dark old days when I did not use adblock and then Brave came along and introduced me to the idea and everything was so simple, so much better. I block cookies and scripts on news sites and everything has been far better than what it was a few years ago.

I use Firefox + Ublock now and it has blocked a few million ads for me!

uBlock origin on my PC, AdGuard on my Google Pixel

I do want people to make their money but not to the point I get malware from a single click.

Partially ibecause I hate ads. part of it is personal security along with ads AdguardHome server blocks malware and porn for the kids. There's a ton malware that gets delivered through ads

I'll buy merch and/or donate to the creator but I won't watch ads

I pay for content that I enjoy, but the general web is intolerable without an ad blocker.

I use Adblock because YouTube has too many ads, and anywhere else makes me feel like I'll get malware if I turn it off.

I use it because the advertising industry is trying to gobble up as much personal info about you. Ad banners are more than just displays for ads, they’re embedded trackers surveilling your browsing activity. I’d be happy to see some ads if they were truly privacy preserving.

For now, I just donate to my favourite creators or use subscriptions like YouTube Premium to pay creators for the content I consume.

By default I have AdBlock (uBlock origin) on, but I generally turn it off for YouTube and Twitch to support content creators (except when the creator is unmonetized, then I leave it on).

And I also turn it off for a some websites that are free of corporate BS and have interesting content. Funny enough, most of these websites happen to not have any ads or trackers in the first place.

This is the pcgamer website without adblock!

I discovered this this morning as I was trying out a Lemmy app (thunder) instead of my ad blocked Firefox and followed an article link.

In less than 800 words there were:

• 3 full page ads to dismiss
• an auto playing video taking up 1/4 of the screen that follows as you scroll
• a sticky animated footer banner
• and a half page animated ad between each paragraph.

Fuck that. Fuck any organizational that does that to it's product or has that level of contempt for it's users.

I support content creators but ad block is necessary for safety, privacy, and the overall usability of the Internet.

I do, I hate fucking ads.

No creator is worth catching some dodgy-ass computer std from someone's drive-by ad.

Absolutely I use ad block. Ublock origin, plus a couple other privacy related extensions, plus browser configured with most privacy settings turned up all the way.

Most publishers seem to have no interest in giving me a good browsing experience, only in shoving as many ads as possible down my throat and violating my privacy as much as possible. So I have zero sympathy. I have sympathy for the smaller websites that then get locked as well, that wouldn't otherwise have intrusive ads, but I am not going to subject myself to the larger ones just for their benefit.

Without ad block I have found a lot of websites almost totally unusable, or significantly more time wasting. Reddit is of course a big one, new Reddit without ad block is a total clusterfuck. YouTube is also pretty bad.

Thing is, I'm happy to pay. I'm looking forward to an era when I can do microtransactions in crypto to pay a website a couple pennies for content I like.

Ads annoy me to no end so yes. I use NextDNS on all of my devices + uBo in my browsers

It is the one universal truth. Viewers do not want ads.

Why then should I care about a content creator who doesn't care about their viewers?

If you have built your business model on giving people what they don't want, AND have the audacity to insist that people make it easier for you to give them what they don't want, then you can fuck right off.

No. I do not care about creators who rely on ads. You'll take my Ublock Origin from my cold, dead hands.

I use them. And I won't pretend that I do it for moral reasons - it's because I do not want to see ads or waste my bandwidth with ads, period.

And I don't usually whitelist content creators because I know that most money won't get in their pockets, it'll go for Google or Meta or whatever. In a few cases however I might buy some stuff from the creator (if I got the money...), specially if it's a book or similar.

I always use adblock on every device I browse with, no exceptions. I honestly wouldn't use the internet without it in any significant way. When other people try to show me videos on their phones and double ads play in front or in the middle, I get so irritated I wanna scream. I have no idea how people use the internet without ad block, it's just so over the top now days.

And no, I piss on the idea that by using ad blockers you are "stealing" from the creators. That's absolute garbage imo. I never signed a contract with them to watch X minutes of ads in order to consume their content. Plus, most creators now just embed ads in their videos anyways, so ad blockers don't do anything for those, I just skip over them in my browser.

If you wanna support a creator, donate to them, buy their merch, link to their content from yours and give them free advertising/publicity. The idea that I "owe" a content creator some fraction of a cent of ad revenue by letting some random clip about ball hair trimmers or protein bars play for 15-30 seconds is laughable. If they are really opposed to their content being consumed for free online, then lock it all behind pay walls or don't release it online at all.

I know that's a hard-line position in some people's minds, but it's what I truly believe. Also, the creators that I consume a ton of content from, I've donated or purchased 100's-1000's of times more than what they would ever make off me watching all of the YT ads that play before/during their vids.

I use ad-blockers because I'm not a masochist. 🤨

Fuck ads. They always fuck me when I try to make money online. If the only way I'm allowed to make money is with "a real job" then they should "get a real job" too. Fuck 'em.

Yes. When I visit my parents, who don't use adblocker, I get really anxious when I have to face the enormous flood of ads that you get without it. I wouldn't be able to concetrate to anything if I were interupted frequently with ad breaks. I also hate how ads volume loudness has been maximized, so they sound more loud than normal content.

Yes, because most sites are completely unreadable without it. I also don't want to be loading megabytes of garbage with all the ads, trackers, and whatever other shit people stick on commercial websites nowadays.

I use ublock origin: https://ublockorigin.com/

The internet is unusable without a good adblock.

Sometimes I see how some friends and relatives browse the web. From googling a recipe to watching hours of youtube videos. Shockingly, they spend like 10% of the time staring at advertisments, waiting for them to pass by. Sometimes, when they are close friends, I "confront" them about it and 90% of the time their answer is "I didn't even know you can block them". Not once have I heard "I do it to generate money the creators and or websites".

My girlfriend used to show me youtube videos on her phone and she used a "trick" where you report the unskippable ads or whatver and then you get through them quicker. Having to wait for HER ads to pass started to annoy me so much that I upgraded my YouTube subscription to family. Now her and her siblings get to enjoy ad-free YouTube content.

Been using adblock for years now, I haven't seen a single ad on my devices since then.

Last week my wife used her iPad so we could watch a video and I saw 2 ads in a row, it was kind of a strange experience.

If a creator needs money I'll donate directly to them, and if the only way to support is ads, then what a shame, I'm not gonna watch ads just because of a creator.

Of course. Parts of the internet are basically unusable without it, and others are much less safe. Any creator who moans about this is just taking out their frustration about their chosen line of work on you, or guilt tripping you to make a penny. Plus, lots of creators have found ways to run ethical and safe do that don't put the user at risk.

Advertising is a form of hostile content. Advertisers mean us harm. They might have some tenuous moral right to try to expose me to their manipulation, but I am not obliged to co-operate and my moral right to protect myself is much stronger. This is implicit in every form of advertising. You are not doing anything immoral by buying a magazine and then not reading any of the ads it contains.

Arguments against ad blockers require that there are not alternate ways of exploiting content production, or any reasons to produce content other than financial gain.

If a creator is really useful, I support them directly through donations or paid subscriptions. Other than that, I can't stand ads.

I use adblock (uBlock origin) because the internet is nigh unusable otherwise. It's incredibly risky (even irresponsible) to not have adblock turned on given the danger of malware, or malware in the guise of advertisements. However, I'd whitelist sites that are decent about it--though in practice, I find it risky to temporarily disable my adblock just to test things, much less to whitelist them.

Most of all, there are other, better, ways to support content creators in the internet.