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I've said this repeatedly[1], but I take the opportunity to say it every chance I get. Ad-blocking is about trust—or more accurately, lack thereof. I don't tr

by basseq 9y ago

I've said this repeatedly[1], but I take the opportunity to say it every chance I get. Ad-blocking is about trust—or more accurately, lack thereof. I don't trust you not to show me scammy ads, load 2MB of tracking JS, maliciously redirect me, or generally ruin my overall user experience with your content you claim is so valuable. So I run an ad-blocker. I'm telling you I value your content (enough to view it, anyway), and to stop getting in my way. I'm blocking your infrastructure because I don't trust it and blocking your ads because I question your judgement. Or because I don't know you well enough to know your judgement, so my default assumption is that you're going to be a bad actor. I agree there has to be a better way to sponsor websites. And ads as a mechanism are a fine way to do that. So, content creators, I'm OK with popups asking me to un-block your ads. But you need to show me you deserve that trust: it's not that you need to keep the lights on. I get it. But that's your problem. That's why you want me to unblock, not why I will unblock. So tell me your ad network is trustworthy and be transparent about that commitment. Don't just ask me for my credit card number as an alternate form of sponsorship. I literally just told you I don't trust your infrastructure or your judgement, and your response is to ask for financial information? Nope. [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14990137#14991910 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14990137#14991910

msla 9y ago
More briefly: Since any ad network's incentives align more closely with malware authors' than my own, I'm blocking a channel which is a known malware distribution vector.
- basseq 9y ago
  I'm not seriously concerned about malware. I trust Google (Chrome) and Microsoft (Windows) enough to protect me if someone does try to serve me malware. And on mobile, iOS malware really isn't a thing, and I trust Apple there, too. It's mainly about customer experience. On desktop, that's auto-playing videos and terrible "sponsored content". On mobile, it's malicious redirects to the app store that not only takes me away from your content, but my entire application. (And, also on mobile, a real cost: your 1MB tracking JS costs me a couple cents and counts towards my cap every time I load it. I hope your caching logic is sound.)

by basseq 9y ago

msla 9y ago

More briefly: Since any ad network's incentives align more closely with malware authors' than my own, I'm blocking a channel which is a known malware distribution vector.

basseq 9y ago
I'm not seriously concerned about malware. I trust Google (Chrome) and Microsoft (Windows) enough to protect me if someone does try to serve me malware. And on mobile, iOS malware really isn't a thing, and I trust Apple there, too. It's mainly about customer experience. On desktop, that's auto-playing videos and terrible "sponsored content". On mobile, it's malicious redirects to the app store that not only takes me away from your content, but my entire application. (And, also on mobile, a real cost: your 1MB tracking JS costs me a couple cents and counts towards my cap every time I load it. I hope your caching logic is sound.)