this post was submitted on 27 Jun 2023
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I posted this question because I once saw a tweet that said something like:

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

What is your opinion on this? Do you agree with them?

(page 3) 50 comments
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[–] coffeemonster 6 points 2 years ago

Web is unusable without.I donate to content creators . They make more money, im less pissed off. Win win.

[–] Fangslash 6 points 2 years ago

sometimes I just want to see that 5s section that I missed and I am not sitting through a full minute of ads for that.

the experience has got so bad that adblock is now a must. Crazy that I used to even whitelist youtube when their ads are of sensible length.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 years ago (1 children)

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 donβ€˜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.

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[–] snek 6 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

I use adblocking either through Chrome extentions or by using Brave Browser. I don't feel good about not supporting some websites, but ads have become extremely intrusive and excessive. It's not my fault that ads try to finger my brain at every chance whenever I am on the internet. I do it for my own peace of mind.

[–] MiddleWeigh 6 points 2 years ago

Theres no ads on lemmy (:

[–] fzacq9td 6 points 2 years ago

internet is bloat

[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 years ago

Every time I browse without adblock it blows my mind how shitty an experience it is. I genuinely don't know how people browse the internet every day with so many ads being shoved in their faces.

[–] cannedtuna 6 points 2 years ago (1 children)

I use Pihole to filter ads network wide. I also have Tailscale setup so I can route all my DNS requests through my home network and filter mobile ads as well.

Fuck ads.

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[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 years ago

The internet is an usuable hellhole without uBlock Origin. I don't give two shits if creators are losing money. All you're 'creating' for me is annoyance with those invasive autoplaying video abombinations.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 years ago

I more or less agree with the sentiment, which is why I disable my adblock on sites I use regularly, with 3 exceptions:

  1. If the ads are egregious, adblock stays on. Half- page content blocking ads stay blocked. Auto playing noisy video ads stay blocked. You get the idea.
  2. If they have tracking JavaScript that isn't blocked by regular built browser built in blocking stuff then my ad block stays on. They can have my data or they can throw ads at me. Not both.
  3. Any site that I am paying for the ad block stays on. If I'm paying for your service, you don't get to advertise at me and you don't get to throw a bunch of tracking crap at me.
[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Every so often I try seeing if I can do without adblock. But man, the distraction, and the CPU usage, and the malvertising, ...

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[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 years ago

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.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 years ago

It'd be neat to have an adblocker that appears to the advertiser as if it's showing and even interacting with ads.

[–] Noxvento 5 points 2 years ago

ublock-origin all the way. I hate ads.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 years ago

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

[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 years ago

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.

[–] jcrabapple 5 points 2 years ago

I use Rethink with NextDNS, and Vivaldi's ad blocker.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

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.

[–] morgan_423 5 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

Oh yes, I use ad blockers. Some of the stuff that some ads have going on today feel like a form of malware, tracking you all over the internet. Not to mention the occasional actual malware that no one seems to screen ads for. No thank you.

[–] notun 5 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

Adblock and Sponsorblock. Also Enhancer for Youtube that hides those pesky YT Shorts.

Why? Fuck ads, that's why.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 years ago

Ads have become so invasive that most sites are simply unusable without ad blocking. If I care about the creator, I usually pay the creator in some way.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 years ago

Absolutely. I can still support a creator without watching terrible ads, and I really don't like selling my soul to DoubleClick.

[–] pensa 5 points 2 years ago

I believe that without an adblocker, there is a high risk of encountering malware on the very first website I visit. Moreover, the presence of data-intensive ads can significantly slow down the website, making it much faster when using an adblocker.

[–] stonedonkey 5 points 2 years ago

I use a PiHole in tandem with Ublock and Privacy Badger mostly because I loathe Meta and try and block as much of my foot print as possible.

Seeing half my bandwidth being reduced by 50% is the cherry on top.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 years ago

Supposedly this is about YouTube ad blocking but this applies everywhere.

Anyone who thinks you ought to unblock ads for the creator's sake is propagandized to hell and back by advertisers who exploit creators by monetizing their content.

Oh! Milord is so good! He lets me paint in his shed but only if I paint 5 paintings a day with my own paint and he'll even let me keep a penny a week from his sales of my paintings!

[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 years ago

It’s a bummer that blocking ads prevents some creators from getting money, but I’m not losing any sleep over it.

I don’t mind sponsored segments in videos and podcasts. However, the ads on YouTube and on many websites are invasive and annoying. That’s why I block them, and I won’t be turning it off.

[–] robolemmy 5 points 2 years ago

Wanna know why I use ublock origin eveywhere? If you're brave (and dumb) go to wordhippo.com with a "naked" browser (no adblock and default privacy settings). Then come back and talk to me when you've removed all the malware from your system.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 years ago

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

[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 years ago

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.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 years ago

I use it because I feel like ad's are forced on me at every turn in my life. Its not just the internet, but everywhere I go IRL. Bilboards on every road and highway. I actually think billboards should be illegal everywhere as they are an eyesore. Ad's at the gas pump when I'm filling up. Restaurants I go to with signs for unrelated businesses. At the store when the radio is playing. The radio is it's own mess. I have no idea how people listen to 3 songs an hour with no option to skip a song you don't like.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 years ago

I use an tracker blocker, because the way advertising is done today by google and similar is immoral, and its shocking that it is not illegal.

The way ads are put on duckduckgo, based on your search terms, or the way companies sponsor creators is great, that's the way advertising should be, and Iwant to support that.

But if you are going to be a creepy company (Google, Meta, ...) who wants to unconsensually track and profile me when my browser explicitly includes do not track requests, in order to manipulate my beliefs of purchasing habitats. As somebody who is aware of the problem, not using a tracker blocker like privacy badger would be wrong and immortal, because by allowing them to make money though abusing me, i would be supporting and aiding them in the evil they engage in.

Use a tracker blocker, don't help google be evil, and don't support anyone who demonizes you for refusing to support modern evil for their personal gain.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 years ago

to block ads

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 years ago (3 children)

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.

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[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 years ago

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.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 years ago

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.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 years ago

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.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

uBlock Origin or the built-in adblocker, depending on the browser I use. On iOS I use AdGuard.

I treat adblockers the same as an antivirus at this point, there have been multiple times that I've seen ads for scams and malware, so I save myself the headache and use an adblocker. I believe it was Linus from Linus Tech Tips who said adblocking YouTube ads is piracy, if so then call me a filthy pirate.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (1 children)

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.

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[–] Alpagu 4 points 2 years ago

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

[–] joelthelion 4 points 2 years ago

Ads are bad for me, and for the most part, they're bad for the planet. So I use an ad blocker everywhere.

I'm aware that the web has a monetization problem without ads. But not blocking them doesn't help address the problem in any ways. I donate a little bit to creators I really like instead.

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