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Legally banning adblock will open up a large can of worms that I don't think anyone really wants to probe into. Third party "ads" can run shady, if not outright
by AdmiralAsshat 5y ago
Legally banning adblock will open up a large can of worms that I don't think anyone really wants to probe into. Third party "ads" can run shady, if not outright malicious JavaScript. If "adblocking" becomes illegal, does it logically follow then that a visitor to a website is legally compelled to allow the site's shady-ass code to run on their computer?
That would likely fail in the courts, and it might cause inverse blow-back that fully bans such things from running at all. The ad vendors don't want that, because they're probably content to let a minority of users block their ads if it means that the majority still let their ads and all associated tracking/JS run unabated.
- colinmhayes 5y agoWhat happens when the people who grew up without the internet die and all that's left is the people that have been watching youtube since they were 3. Won't the vast majority of people be using adblockers?
- AdmiralAsshat 5y agoAnecdotally, I feel like half the people in my immediate circle of friends/family still don't use adblockers unless I help them set it up. And then that only holds until the next time they get a new device and I'm not there to help them do it again.
- colinmhayes 5y agoHow old is your immediate circle? The truly internet first generation is only like 15-20 at this point.
- AdmiralAsshat 5y agoAre we sure this "truly internet first generation" is primarily using laptops? If they grew up with an iPhone/iPad, there's no guarantee that they even have adblocking as an option.
- colinmhayes 5y agoThat's a good point. I do think the push to get users on mobile has a good deal to do with the difficulty of blocking ads on mobile. Maybe that's where we're headed. Instead of making adblockers illegal users will be herded into locked down platforms that don't allow adblockers.