5 ms·

I stopped using at least 4 websites which I followed for years just because they tried to enforce on me turning off PrivacyBadger and uBlock. It will hurt only

by akerro 11y ago

I stopped using at least 4 websites which I followed for years just because they tried to enforce on me turning off PrivacyBadger and uBlock. It will hurt only you in long term. It's more important for me to use my browser then you website that doesn't respect my choices.

reasonality 11y ago
How does it hurt them? You stopped leeching their bandwidth without any opportunity for them to earn any ad revenue from them! Allowing leeches on your website doesn't seem that beneficial.
- akerro 11y ago
  >You stopped leeching their bandwidth without any opportunity for them to earn any ad revenue from them! I stopped adding comments, starting discussions, I allow some non-intrusive ads when I enable them, I have quite extensive whitelist in ublock.
- jinst8gmi 11y ago
  A site which eventually has no visitors will become irrelevant. Those with ad blockers will also often share links to said site which others without ad blockers will click on. If you block me on your website there are many others who will no longer be clicking through via the links I would otherwise have shared.
- moonchrome 11y ago
  Let's say two sites, A and B host similar content. The end user cannot see some content on site A because of adblock detection but he can see it on site B, he down votes the link of site A on sharing networks, he asks for a policy banning or advocates against linking to site A because content can be found on B. I've seen this play out many times, and at that point you're not just losing traffic from ad block clients you're losing traffic overall, have people actively promote your competitors and earn a bad rep (and that rep might not even be objective - in general if people remember anything it will be "don't use A" not the "why" of it)
  - jinst8gmi 11y ago
    Perhaps we should add [adwall] to links similar to the way we include [paywall]?
  - eva1984 11y ago
    This won't work once more and more sites join the adwall band.
    - moonchrome 11y ago
      Cartel members always have incentives to cheat - if one site can become popular by not ad-walling like 90% of them do and regurgitate the content of 90% they will do it and disregard "the big picture" especially considering the low barriers to entry. They have no enforcement mechanism to keep everyone honest - the only way this sort of thing works is if you "outlaw" non-ad-walled sites - something like google not listing those sites - otherwise not happening.
      - eva1984 11y ago
        A restaurant cannot beat other restaurants by making its meal free to all.
        _Understated_ 11y ago
        No, but it can by offering better service, better food, better decor etc.
        eva1984 11y ago
        But customer needs to pay
        JulianMorrison 11y ago
        Someone needs to pay in a society where a restaurant owner needs money to eat. But that someone doesn't have to be the customer, doesn't have to be every customer - and the economy might not be structured to require anyone to pay for things, in which case both the restaurant and the customers get everything without money. (Why would people work there? Maybe vocation or hospitality, maybe they wouldn't and robots would instead.)
- aw3c2 11y ago
  Is bandwidth anything remotely worth "protecting" in this day and age?
- aikah 11y ago
  Well as a user I might share a link to a site that will be seen by 100 or 1000's of others, on Facebook, Reddit or whatever social network. If that website blocks me from visiting them at first place, they will also loose all the potential revenue from the viral effect. Is it what you call a leech ?
  - reasonality 11y ago
    You're assuming the set of people who dislike ads and actively block them, intersects with the set of people who don't mind ads. I'm not convinced that's the case. They're usually quite different demographics.
  - eva1984 11y ago
    But your friends have larger chance also being ad blocker users, right? In the end, the website just get more requests and a bigger bill from ISP without getting a cent from those.
Kiro 11y ago
> It's more important for me to use my browser then you website that doesn't respect my choices. Likewise I have the right to reject you if you can't comply with my terms.
- nobodyshere 11y ago
  Thing is, who loses in such a case?
  - mhaehnel 11y ago
    Well played.
- akerro 11y ago
  My father doesn't even know what web browser is he using. He doesn't know how to install different one. He doesn't have permission do it anyway. You will ban him, he will stop coming there and start going to competitors. Who is lost is such situation?
- threatofrain 11y ago
  Of course, and I believe that the sum of actors exercising fair play in a generally free space will result in interesting market and social configurations. In this case, I see internet content divided in half -- content for those who can pay for it, and content for those who can't. Not all websites should survive. Not all users should be able to experience everything on the internet. "You get what you pay for" is not wrong. Exclusivity can lead to quality.
  - nobodyshere 11y ago
    Something new will appear, like pirated news aggregators. Maybe hosted in tor.
    - threatofrain 11y ago
      Sure, and I say let the games go on. I am eager to see what emerges.

by akerro 11y ago

reasonality 11y ago

How does it hurt them? You stopped leeching their bandwidth without any opportunity for them to earn any ad revenue from them! Allowing leeches on your website doesn't seem that beneficial.

akerro 11y ago
>You stopped leeching their bandwidth without any opportunity for them to earn any ad revenue from them! I stopped adding comments, starting discussions, I allow some non-intrusive ads when I enable them, I have quite extensive whitelist in ublock.
jinst8gmi 11y ago
A site which eventually has no visitors will become irrelevant. Those with ad blockers will also often share links to said site which others without ad blockers will click on. If you block me on your website there are many others who will no longer be clicking through via the links I would otherwise have shared.
moonchrome 11y ago
Let's say two sites, A and B host similar content. The end user cannot see some content on site A because of adblock detection but he can see it on site B, he down votes the link of site A on sharing networks, he asks for a policy banning or advocates against linking to site A because content can be found on B. I've seen this play out many times, and at that point you're not just losing traffic from ad block clients you're losing traffic overall, have people actively promote your competitors and earn a bad rep (and that rep might not even be objective - in general if people remember anything it will be "don't use A" not the "why" of it)
- jinst8gmi 11y ago
  Perhaps we should add [adwall] to links similar to the way we include [paywall]?
- eva1984 11y ago
  This won't work once more and more sites join the adwall band.
  - moonchrome 11y ago
    Cartel members always have incentives to cheat - if one site can become popular by not ad-walling like 90% of them do and regurgitate the content of 90% they will do it and disregard "the big picture" especially considering the low barriers to entry. They have no enforcement mechanism to keep everyone honest - the only way this sort of thing works is if you "outlaw" non-ad-walled sites - something like google not listing those sites - otherwise not happening.
    - eva1984 11y ago
      A restaurant cannot beat other restaurants by making its meal free to all.
      - _Understated_ 11y ago
        No, but it can by offering better service, better food, better decor etc.
        eva1984 11y ago
        But customer needs to pay
        JulianMorrison 11y ago
        Someone needs to pay in a society where a restaurant owner needs money to eat. But that someone doesn't have to be the customer, doesn't have to be every customer - and the economy might not be structured to require anyone to pay for things, in which case both the restaurant and the customers get everything without money. (Why would people work there? Maybe vocation or hospitality, maybe they wouldn't and robots would instead.)
aw3c2 11y ago
Is bandwidth anything remotely worth "protecting" in this day and age?
aikah 11y ago
Well as a user I might share a link to a site that will be seen by 100 or 1000's of others, on Facebook, Reddit or whatever social network. If that website blocks me from visiting them at first place, they will also loose all the potential revenue from the viral effect. Is it what you call a leech ?
- reasonality 11y ago
  You're assuming the set of people who dislike ads and actively block them, intersects with the set of people who don't mind ads. I'm not convinced that's the case. They're usually quite different demographics.
- eva1984 11y ago
  But your friends have larger chance also being ad blocker users, right? In the end, the website just get more requests and a bigger bill from ISP without getting a cent from those.

Kiro 11y ago

> It's more important for me to use my browser then you website that doesn't respect my choices. Likewise I have the right to reject you if you can't comply with my terms.

nobodyshere 11y ago
Thing is, who loses in such a case?
- mhaehnel 11y ago
  Well played.
akerro 11y ago
My father doesn't even know what web browser is he using. He doesn't know how to install different one. He doesn't have permission do it anyway. You will ban him, he will stop coming there and start going to competitors. Who is lost is such situation?
threatofrain 11y ago
Of course, and I believe that the sum of actors exercising fair play in a generally free space will result in interesting market and social configurations. In this case, I see internet content divided in half -- content for those who can pay for it, and content for those who can't. Not all websites should survive. Not all users should be able to experience everything on the internet. "You get what you pay for" is not wrong. Exclusivity can lead to quality.
- nobodyshere 11y ago
  Something new will appear, like pirated news aggregators. Maybe hosted in tor.
  - threatofrain 11y ago
    Sure, and I say let the games go on. I am eager to see what emerges.