Asklemmy

Do I use adblockers? Yes

Why? Honestly it's not about the ads, nor the tracking, or user privacy (though it is a perk). Nope I block ads for simple device security.

Fake links to sites I never wanted to visit with fake download buttons, or play buttons which download viruses or malware to my machines. I remember having a machine with Norton, and having to re-install the OS every year or so since too many accidental clicks caused me to download the wrong things.

And don't get me started with those old grotesque ads found on the bottom of pages. Nor the cleanup of my Grandparents machines with Viruses that live in RAM, or Ransom Ware which a cousin installed while looking for minecraft skins.

An AdBlocker is a security tool on the internet, it makes sure that the links you are clicking are from the site itself. It helps simplify the decisions needed since now instead of 2-10 download and play buttons, there maybe 1 or 2.

My Grand Parents don't have viruses any more, I don't get viruses any more. Sure it sucks that the site I visit doesn't get the $0.05 which it might get from ads if I visit. But after trying to do it legitimately for years, I just can't trust ad providers (even on Google) to get me the correct links or information any more.

Yes, always have and always will. The internet is just plain hostile without one. Watching others browse the web without one is fascinating to watch. I don't really care much for the "moral" side of things.

Just for fun, I checked my self hosted AdGuard DNS and 60% of queries were blocked! That's insane. That's just DNS level blocking.

I use an adblocker but I turn it off for sites I like and want to support.

The story of internet ads is a classic greed to ruins fable. People put up with static picture and text ads for a very long time, and many, myself included, still don't mind them. In fact, self-hosting picture and text ads is almost guaranteed to get through adblockers.

But then the ads started moving. They started playing sound. They started executing code and phoning home to third party servers and collecting user data without consent. They started consuming more system resources than the webpage itself. Malware started being distributed through it, and there was even a recent breakthrough of ad cryptominers, because, again, they literally execute arbitrary code on your computer!

At this point our trust in ads are irreversibly broken. We will never tolerate ads again like we did when they hadn't done all this, even if they promises to clean up their act. Adblock was developed as not just something to remove unsightly ads, but also, and I do not exaggerate when I say this, as a line of defense for the security and usability of your computer. It's like an antivirus, but it kicks in before the virus even reaches your computer! For this reason, I think adblockers are not only okay to have, but essentially a mandatory item for browsing today's internet. If you want revenue in spite of that, maybe set up a tip jar and/or go back to self-hosted text and picture ads, I'm not disabling adblock and opening myself to harm because, no offense, I genuinely do not trust you.

At this point, the internet is so goddamn unusable without an adblocker that I don't know why anyone would try.

At work, I'll occasionally start talking to someone about some fandom like Star Wars or Pathfinder or whatever. I'll go to the wikia or fandom page for them and suddenly I get a million popups and half the page is covered in ads. It's actually so bad that my work's filter will occasionally block a site because they'll say that the ads are too bad.

The only time I see ads now is when I watch YouTube or Hulu on my TV, but even then I try to cast from my desktop (though Hulu ads seem to break through). I understand the idea of supporting creators, but for most YouTubers, their money comes from the sponsorships, not from me watching an ad.

Browsing the internet without content filters(adblock) is like going through a dungeon naked without armor. Too many risks which are not worth it.

I use Adguard and ublock origin. There's too much tracking, ads, crapware and even malware if you choose to not install one.

Even the FBI recommends to install an adblocker. https://www.standard.co.uk/tech/fbi-recommends-ad-blocker-online-scams-b1048998.html

Here's a hacker news discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28631005

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

If you put ads on your website, you don't care about users point blank.

Recently tried a couple sites without an Adblock and it felt like the "good old days" of constant pop ups and garbage loading in the background while trying to read an article. The best are those autoplaying videos that don't start muted.

So with that said, yeah, I think I'm gonna keep that Adblock on!

As I have no obligation to actually pay attention to any ads, so I see no reason why I would be obliged to download and display them.

Also, 'point blank'? Shouldn't that just be 'period'?

Yes, I use adblock. Most sites I visit didn't have ads on them 15 years ago. I don't want to see the ads now. As others have said, they are way too scammy and intrusive.

But your second point about not caring about the creator, i always thibk about this. YouTube. They will do two 15 second unskippable ads for a 5 second video... and then the creator of that video DOES NOT SEE A CENT FROM THE ADVERTISERS OR YOUTUBE! Why? Because its not monetizable, thats why! Why would I waste my time over that kind of crap? Or, worse yet, if I wanted to watch another advertisement on YouTube, I have to watch an ad to watch an ad? Why does that make sense? It's not the consumers that don't watch ads that don't care about the creators. It's a platform that monetizes its users and then doesn't pay them for it.

Which don't get me started on Reddit...

I absolutely use AdBlock. I can't be on the internet without it. If creators make things I find valuable, I support them. I don't feel a need to consume ads for them though

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

Reminder that AdBlock doesn't block all ads. It blocks ads that hinder usability across the web. Without AdBlock, I simply would never visit 3/4 of the internet.

Once upon a time, I used to care and disabled adblocking by default.

But then they tried adding malware and ridiculous amounts of requests to third-party sites I didn't consent to share, and is actually consuming metered data on mobile back then when unlimited data wasn't an option.

So yeah, I'm adblocking by default now that it's been abused and it's necessary for self-defense.

Yep, absolutely. Not only do I block ads, but trackers and analytics too.

I use uBlock Origin and just directly donate to creators I follow

Yes. I have a whole house dns adlock AND iuse a browser adblock as well.

Too many websites are COMPLETE SHIT TO NAVIGATE without adblock. They will be slow to load because of all the ad servers loading in. They fill so much of their space with ads that the main Co tent you're there to see is obfuscated. They break content up with ads, so you're forced to scroll past them.

I have never understood why we legally allow advertising at all. Why should we let companies harass literally anyone with advertisements? I know literally nobody who likes seeing ads on any kind of content. It's an incredibly annoying thing we have normalized, and it needs to get cut back.

I'd say that ads don't care about creators.

We should be paying creators for content and that's not what ads do.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Np5ri-KktNs

The argument to turn off your adblocker is like a circus ringleader demanding the audience’s money for the sake of the lion, even while he beats the lion.

I use ad blockers because ad companies are stalkers and ads are roofies. No matter what I do or where I go, an ad company is creeping on me, trying to manipulate me into buying something I don't need.

Fuck ads. Fuck ad companies. I don't need to be harassed into buying something. If a product is useful, it's quality will speak for itself.

yes, because no ads basically means my antivirus software has nothing to do. Creators have no choice over what ads are served up with the content and 99% of ads are loaded with malware whether you click on them or not.

Creators need to come up with better ways to monetise their content instead of relying on them.

I like being able to surf the internet without having 90% of my screen plastered with ads as I scroll. Also fuck those ads that load 10 seconds after the article causing you to click them when you go to click on a link.

To me, Adblock (Ublock Origin, actually) comes with the internet package. I mean, if I'm connected to the internet in any way, I have to do it with several layers of adblocking. Sometimes, when I have to use someone else's phone or compute, I'm appalled at how pervasive ads are. It's crazy what other people tolerate. I ask them, 'how do you get by with so many ads?' And, to my surprise, some will say, 'it's normal, no biggie.' Then I rejoice yet again for adblocking technologies and for how much they contribute to my well being and sanity. So, do I use adblockers? Most definitely!

I usually run my adblocker because there have been too many instances of malicious ads and just overly annoying advertisements. I will support creators directly when possible, and in other cases will disable the adblocker for specific sites that I trust and find value in. The advertising industry did this to themselves, I don't feel bad for using the blocker.

Some web advertisers put diseased teeth and toenails in their ads, for the specific purpose of attracting readers' attention away from the creator's work those users are actually trying to read.

Why do advertisers hate creators so much?

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.

I wouldn't be able to function online without an Ad Blocker, use uBlock on my PCs, PiHole at home and AdGuard DNS when on a cell phone. If I like an individual creator, I'll join their Patreon or make whatever donation they prefer.

Absolutely. Not using adblock is just asking to get malware, on top of ads being wildly obnoxious. And most sites are CRAMMED with ads to the point that they're basically ureadable.

I also subscribe to a lot of patreons and such because I want to support creators. But I'd stop consuming someone's content before I turned off my ad blocker, if they decided that was the hill they wanted to die on.

I use an adblocker (uBlock Origin).

It blocks some malware. Also, most ads are low quality scams and there are too many everywhere. I do like to get tracked everywhere just by viewing ads.

Yes, I absolutely use adblock, I couldn't imagine browsing without it. I support creators I like by donating them money or joining their patreon.

It’s not just ads though, it’s the tracking that bugs me

Yes I do, screw ads. I use uBlock Origin on all my browsers and I run a home server with Adguard Home in it (I prefer Adguard Home instead of Pi-Hole, the former is super easy to update and it only runs on 1 service).

I often connect to my home server from my cellphone with Wireguard or OpenVPN to go through Adguard Home when I'm away.

I use Privacy Badger to block trackers, and uBlock to manually block especially annoying ads. Everything else is allowed. So if an ad isn't obnoxious and doesn't track, it gets through. It's not perfect but I figure that's a reasonable compromise.

This conversation made me go install Adguard Home in my house.

That’s an overly simplistic take.

Over the years, ads have become louder, bigger, more intrusive, more voluminous, and alarmingly much more “personal”

I value my peace and my privacy.

I support creators with donations, subscriptions and purchases. If it’s an exclusively ad-supported service that does so respectfully and reasonably, I might whitelist it.

Everything else gets blocked. I use AdGuard and their extensions, and a VPN set to a Swiss geo helps with the rest.

I like to change the metaphor. We're not visiting websites. We are inviting them into our homes.

But when we open the door, our friend brings a group of rowdy drunks with him, they're rummaging through closets (privacy invasion), they drink the beer (draining batteries and using internet data volume) and maybe they damage things (malware) - so I have a bouncer. If you're not invited, you're not getting in.

As for creatives, I'll happily tip them, i have no issues with sponsored content (as long as it is declared) - they probably get more from that then the ad-impressions.

I use ad blockers. I do feel for people who are trying to make a living producing content, I really do.

BUT I really, really, am against letting the big tech companies that serve the ads make the majority of the money. It's beyond messed up how little content creators make compared to what companies like Google make with ads. Ads make some companies so much money they sink tons of money into finding more ways to creep on our personal lives.

Kind of related but not completely is how Apple and Google take cuts of money spent in apps and to pay for paid apps in their app stores. Like wtf? Sure, I can understand these tech companies need money to run their servers and all that, but jfc why do they need such a huge cut? App devs, artists (YouTube and Spotify, I'm looking at you), writers, whatever all create content people enjoy and tech companies just corner the market and force people who are usually not great with computers or tech, and they just fuck them. Content creators have no say.

Who the hell doesn't use adblock ? Seriously, it's been at least 20 years that it's necessary to browse the web.

Some people like Lemmy admin's and other fediverse people try to rebuild a free internet where it's not needed. But unfortunately, in most of the web it's necessary. Your friend is doing a political statement about adblock there is nothing wrong in not agreeing with right wing people

Ads can deliver viruses, many ads are animated or have sound, or both. If every ad were static and safe, I wouldn't mind so much... but alas, that's not a thing. So AdBlock it is!

Of course I do. The world has gotten absolutely insane with the amount of advertising blasted at us every second of every day. Billboards, posters, magazines, tv, radio, banner ads, sidebar ads, pre-video ads, mid-video ads, post-video ads, spam email, forum posts, polls, tweets, facebook posts, influencers... it's fucking everywhere. You can't even fill your car up with gas without the pump blasting an ad at you now. I'll take any and every opportunity I have to stop that shit from entering my purview.

Watching this YouTube video makes me realise I have no regret using Adblockers.

I use a selfhosted public DNS which runs AdGuard Home where I have multiple block lists running that filter my whole Internet Access from Home, which not only makes my internet at home a lot faster because Ads and other annoying or malicious sites don‘t even get loaded/sent to my home network, but makes it also safer. I run it on a VPS since I have my parents and friends use it too.