5 ms·

The irony is that many people here that want to create a startup and earn any kind of living will have a diminishing chance over time because of the increased u

The irony is that many people here that want to create a startup and earn any kind of living will have a diminishing chance over time because of the increased usage of ad blockers..many of whom support ad blocking with a passion.

runin2k1 11y ago
The problem is that much of the times ads are disruptive, annoying, and potentially harmful. When your choices are to have a) a safer, less disruptive browsing experience, b) potentially have your entire screen taken over with alerts offering to clean out the viruses found on you computer, the smart consumer is going to take option A every time. The advertising industry, and those that employ it, need to aggressively move against bad practices, or the consumers will continue to do it for them.
- johnward 11y ago
  Does B actually exist? I've never used an ad blocker and I don't experience this. It's either an exaggeration or you're visiting some shady sites :) edit: B did exist in the days of windows 95 but I don't see it as a problem now. The biggest issue is auto play video or audio which even browsers makers are taking on.
  - runin2k1 11y ago
    Being the "IT" person amongst my friends and families, I routinely get asked how to fix a computer that has been hacked. In every single case the problem isn't that the computer got hacked, it was them clicking an ad that stated they had a virus, or they downloaded something random because they couldn't see through the noise. See my CNet link below in another response. Savvy users can tune these things out, and/or know sites to avoid, but for the lay-person it is hazardous.
    - johnward 11y ago
      I guess that makes sense. I let my mom use my computer a few weeks ago and I ended up with 20 different "coupon printers".
- paulhauggis 11y ago
  " potentially have your entire screen taken over with alerts offering to clean out the viruses found on you computer, the smart consumer is going to take option A every time." The only time I've seen this is when I've gone to shady websites (porn, filesharing, etc). Legitimate websites don't want to piss off their user base and don't have ads like this. "The problem is that much of the times ads are disruptive, annoying, and potentially harmful" Do you have statistics to back this up? We seem to need scientific evidence in every other case, but with things like this, you can pull it out of thin air. There are a small percentage of ads that are disruptive, but the majority are not. It sounds to me like Sysadmins need to start doing their job. "The advertising industry, and those that employ it, need to aggressively move against bad practices, or the consumers will continue to do it for them." The consumers will only get punished. Ads are on their way out. What's becoming more popular? Paywalls, ads disguised as movies/videos/actual content. Think of things like Dr. Phil and Dr. Oz. This is the direct result of consumers creating a culture of avoiding ads. How about if all of the major Internet providers decide to cut off anyone trying to use Bittorrent because of a small percentage of people abusing it for illegal content?? This is the equivalent of adblocker: punishing all businesses for the actions of a few. Funny how the same people that are against this behavior has no problem using it when it is in their favor. More bullshit hypocrisy.
  - runin2k1 11y ago
    Consider someone with passable internet skills searching for Winzip and ending up at: http://download.cnet.com/WinZip/3000-2250_4-10003164.html http://download.cnet.com/WinZip/3000-2250_4-10003164.html Which button are they are most likely to click and do you think that is what they are after?
    - paulhauggis 11y ago
      Consider the fact that ad blockers and the Internet culture of ignoring ads has led us to this point. I suppose it's a good parallel to the drug laws: you push people to the illegal market when it becomes impossible to get what you want through the ethical/legal route.
swagv 11y ago
I've worked for ad-supported properties with 100s of millions of monthly uniques. I adopted ad blockers not so much because of not wanting to see the ads, but more because the JavaScript, media file, and other technologies supporting the ads killed my browser performance. I'd be happy to view ads in context if it didn't suck up all my CPU cycles and free memory.
InclinedPlane 11y ago
Ads are not the only way to make money on the internet. FULL STOP
- johnward 11y ago
  I agree but they seem to be a major part of the online economy. I think users and advertisers are going to have to reach some kind of agreement for "free" sites to continue to exist. I know there are other business models but I would not be surprised if we hit a point where ad supported content no longer exists. I hope some new "free" business model is developed because I certainly don't want a pay as you go model.
  - nosuchthing 11y ago
    Netflix, Mubi, monthly ISP, web hosting, phone lines, Amazon Prime, delivery services... plenty of people are fine paying for rental or pay as you go services.
    - johnward 11y ago
      People still want to consume content. What is the business model for content sites? Die? Right now it seems like people want to leach the content with out paying the bills.
      - InclinedPlane 11y ago
        I happen to know a fair bit about a particular fairly popular content site. Ads make up a minority of their overall revenue, though it's still a significant chunk. They would survive quite easily without ads. The main advantage of ads is that they are potentially brain-dead easy to enable profitability if you have lots of traffic. But even then that's not necessarily an objectively good thing. Also, I wouldn't say that "people want to leach ... with out paying" is accurate whatsoever. Between merch, events, crowd funding, and patronage (patreon et al) there is a massive and rapidly growing amount of money that has been going to content creators direct from content consumers. It's easier than it's been in a long time, perhaps ever, for a creator to support themselves, aside from ads, and it's only getting easier.
dukerutledge 11y ago
How about a business plan other than mine my users' info and sell them ads?
justizin 11y ago
When you've worked in an office with a hundred people all running AdBlock because on top of the line hardware, your site is unusable without it, let's talk.
davidgerard 11y ago
If your startup relies on malwaring your users, your business plan may not be sufficiently robust.
deleted 11y ago
[deleted]
nitwit005 11y ago
Go to an ad company and see how many people are running an ad blocker. It was essentially 100% when I was working for one. The exception was a guy doing testing on the live web. It's not really a contradiction. You're just like a drug dealer who knows better than using the product yourself.

runin2k1 11y ago

The problem is that much of the times ads are disruptive, annoying, and potentially harmful. When your choices are to have a) a safer, less disruptive browsing experience, b) potentially have your entire screen taken over with alerts offering to clean out the viruses found on you computer, the smart consumer is going to take option A every time. The advertising industry, and those that employ it, need to aggressively move against bad practices, or the consumers will continue to do it for them.

johnward 11y ago
Does B actually exist? I've never used an ad blocker and I don't experience this. It's either an exaggeration or you're visiting some shady sites :) edit: B did exist in the days of windows 95 but I don't see it as a problem now. The biggest issue is auto play video or audio which even browsers makers are taking on.
- runin2k1 11y ago
  Being the "IT" person amongst my friends and families, I routinely get asked how to fix a computer that has been hacked. In every single case the problem isn't that the computer got hacked, it was them clicking an ad that stated they had a virus, or they downloaded something random because they couldn't see through the noise. See my CNet link below in another response. Savvy users can tune these things out, and/or know sites to avoid, but for the lay-person it is hazardous.
  - johnward 11y ago
    I guess that makes sense. I let my mom use my computer a few weeks ago and I ended up with 20 different "coupon printers".
paulhauggis 11y ago
" potentially have your entire screen taken over with alerts offering to clean out the viruses found on you computer, the smart consumer is going to take option A every time." The only time I've seen this is when I've gone to shady websites (porn, filesharing, etc). Legitimate websites don't want to piss off their user base and don't have ads like this. "The problem is that much of the times ads are disruptive, annoying, and potentially harmful" Do you have statistics to back this up? We seem to need scientific evidence in every other case, but with things like this, you can pull it out of thin air. There are a small percentage of ads that are disruptive, but the majority are not. It sounds to me like Sysadmins need to start doing their job. "The advertising industry, and those that employ it, need to aggressively move against bad practices, or the consumers will continue to do it for them." The consumers will only get punished. Ads are on their way out. What's becoming more popular? Paywalls, ads disguised as movies/videos/actual content. Think of things like Dr. Phil and Dr. Oz. This is the direct result of consumers creating a culture of avoiding ads. How about if all of the major Internet providers decide to cut off anyone trying to use Bittorrent because of a small percentage of people abusing it for illegal content?? This is the equivalent of adblocker: punishing all businesses for the actions of a few. Funny how the same people that are against this behavior has no problem using it when it is in their favor. More bullshit hypocrisy.
- runin2k1 11y ago
  Consider someone with passable internet skills searching for Winzip and ending up at: http://download.cnet.com/WinZip/3000-2250_4-10003164.html http://download.cnet.com/WinZip/3000-2250_4-10003164.html Which button are they are most likely to click and do you think that is what they are after?
  - paulhauggis 11y ago
    Consider the fact that ad blockers and the Internet culture of ignoring ads has led us to this point. I suppose it's a good parallel to the drug laws: you push people to the illegal market when it becomes impossible to get what you want through the ethical/legal route.

swagv 11y ago

I've worked for ad-supported properties with 100s of millions of monthly uniques. I adopted ad blockers not so much because of not wanting to see the ads, but more because the JavaScript, media file, and other technologies supporting the ads killed my browser performance. I'd be happy to view ads in context if it didn't suck up all my CPU cycles and free memory.

InclinedPlane 11y ago

Ads are not the only way to make money on the internet. FULL STOP

johnward 11y ago
I agree but they seem to be a major part of the online economy. I think users and advertisers are going to have to reach some kind of agreement for "free" sites to continue to exist. I know there are other business models but I would not be surprised if we hit a point where ad supported content no longer exists. I hope some new "free" business model is developed because I certainly don't want a pay as you go model.
- nosuchthing 11y ago
  Netflix, Mubi, monthly ISP, web hosting, phone lines, Amazon Prime, delivery services... plenty of people are fine paying for rental or pay as you go services.
  - johnward 11y ago
    People still want to consume content. What is the business model for content sites? Die? Right now it seems like people want to leach the content with out paying the bills.
    - InclinedPlane 11y ago
      I happen to know a fair bit about a particular fairly popular content site. Ads make up a minority of their overall revenue, though it's still a significant chunk. They would survive quite easily without ads. The main advantage of ads is that they are potentially brain-dead easy to enable profitability if you have lots of traffic. But even then that's not necessarily an objectively good thing. Also, I wouldn't say that "people want to leach ... with out paying" is accurate whatsoever. Between merch, events, crowd funding, and patronage (patreon et al) there is a massive and rapidly growing amount of money that has been going to content creators direct from content consumers. It's easier than it's been in a long time, perhaps ever, for a creator to support themselves, aside from ads, and it's only getting easier.

dukerutledge 11y ago

How about a business plan other than mine my users' info and sell them ads?

justizin 11y ago

When you've worked in an office with a hundred people all running AdBlock because on top of the line hardware, your site is unusable without it, let's talk.

davidgerard 11y ago

If your startup relies on malwaring your users, your business plan may not be sufficiently robust.

deleted 11y ago

[deleted]

nitwit005 11y ago

Go to an ad company and see how many people are running an ad blocker. It was essentially 100% when I was working for one. The exception was a guy doing testing on the live web. It's not really a contradiction. You're just like a drug dealer who knows better than using the product yourself.