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> The fate of MySpace suggests otherwise. The existence of radio stations exuberantly announcing "commercial free this hour!" suggests otherwise. The prevalence

> The fate of MySpace suggests otherwise. The existence of radio stations exuberantly announcing "commercial free this hour!" suggests otherwise. The prevalence of adblock suggests otherwise. MySpace failed because a better competitor came along. It had a history of predators, spammers, and viruses, and was hard to use well. (Did you see the pages people made?). Ads were one cause among many, and it's doubtful how much they contributed. For comparison, Facebook has ads, but people aren't flocking in droves to G+, and I haven't heard the lack of ads cited as the reason for any of those that are. Radio stations certainly have ads, and those that claim "x songs without commercials!" usually put self-advertisements in instead, which they count separately. It's still advertising, just a different sort. Overall the whole process is pretty duplicitous (imho). AdBlock has minimal market share [1], so the prevalence of AdBlock isn't an argument in your favour. You may be correct that people hate ads, but the evidence you've given does not support your conclusion. [1] first hit guesstimates 2%: http://www.quora.com/What-is-the-percentage-of-Internet-users-that-employ-AdBlock-Plus-or-similar-ad-blocking-plugins http://www.quora.com/What-is-the-percentage-of-Internet-user...

nuje 15y ago
The closest thing to a guess at ad blocking rate at linked page says "I did some research on this a while back, and discovered that 14% of all visitors to MediaUK.com used ad-blockers". The only 2% figure there is a guess as what portion of all web users use Firefox and AdBlock.
- maximusprime 15y ago
  My own measurements put it at <2% (Based on visitors to my website).
  - eps 15y ago
    What ads do you have though? Are they from the ad networks? I have for example Google blocked across the board, but I do let Deck ads to sip through.
    - maximusprime 15y ago
      That was a check for google adsense blocking.
Goladus 15y ago
> MySpace failed because a better competitor came along. It had a history of predators, spammers, and viruses, and was hard to use well. (Did you see the pages people made?). A big reason facebook was better is that it wasn't crudded up with horrible advertising. And yes, I saw the pages people made. That alone is not why MySpace failed. People just like to bash gaudy, haphazard pages because it makes them feel superior. But yes, it could have been easier to use. Modern facebook advertising is a great example of how to manage ads well. It's possible wikipedia could try and follow facebook's advertising principles but I'm not sure how well it would work for them. Facebook has been developing it slowly for years. Wikis that include advertising tend not to be nearly as slick as facebook. > AdBlock has minimal market share [1], so the prevalence of AdBlock isn't an argument in your favour. Number of people using adblock does not mean that many people hate ads. It means that's how many of the people who hate ads have the knowledge, means, and will to do something about it. > Radio stations certainly have ads, and those that claim "x songs without commercials!" usually put self-advertisements in instead, which they count separately. It's still advertising, just a different sort. Overall the whole process is pretty duplicitous (imho). In my experience, that's just a technicality. Yeah, there's maybe one or two ads in the ad-free hour-- compared to 15 minutes or so of ads normally. So I wouldn't call it duplicitous at all. And regardless, even if it was that wouldn't change the point, since they are appealing to people's desire for ad-free programming. Whether they actually deliver on the promise is incidental.

nuje 15y ago

The closest thing to a guess at ad blocking rate at linked page says "I did some research on this a while back, and discovered that 14% of all visitors to MediaUK.com used ad-blockers". The only 2% figure there is a guess as what portion of all web users use Firefox and AdBlock.

maximusprime 15y ago
My own measurements put it at <2% (Based on visitors to my website).
- eps 15y ago
  What ads do you have though? Are they from the ad networks? I have for example Google blocked across the board, but I do let Deck ads to sip through.
  - maximusprime 15y ago
    That was a check for google adsense blocking.

Goladus 15y ago

> MySpace failed because a better competitor came along. It had a history of predators, spammers, and viruses, and was hard to use well. (Did you see the pages people made?). A big reason facebook was better is that it wasn't crudded up with horrible advertising. And yes, I saw the pages people made. That alone is not why MySpace failed. People just like to bash gaudy, haphazard pages because it makes them feel superior. But yes, it could have been easier to use. Modern facebook advertising is a great example of how to manage ads well. It's possible wikipedia could try and follow facebook's advertising principles but I'm not sure how well it would work for them. Facebook has been developing it slowly for years. Wikis that include advertising tend not to be nearly as slick as facebook. > AdBlock has minimal market share [1], so the prevalence of AdBlock isn't an argument in your favour. Number of people using adblock does not mean that many people hate ads. It means that's how many of the people who hate ads have the knowledge, means, and will to do something about it. > Radio stations certainly have ads, and those that claim "x songs without commercials!" usually put self-advertisements in instead, which they count separately. It's still advertising, just a different sort. Overall the whole process is pretty duplicitous (imho). In my experience, that's just a technicality. Yeah, there's maybe one or two ads in the ad-free hour-- compared to 15 minutes or so of ads normally. So I wouldn't call it duplicitous at all. And regardless, even if it was that wouldn't change the point, since they are appealing to people's desire for ad-free programming. Whether they actually deliver on the promise is incidental.