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All of these complaints boil down to people wanting something for free, without any inconvenience at all, even something as minor as clicking an extra button.

All of these complaints boil down to people wanting something for free, without any inconvenience at all, even something as minor as clicking an extra button. Unfortunately, most websites require an actual business model to consistently produce content. Business models usually need a form of lead gathering, or audience building. (Which is, frankly, core to most businesses.) If you don't want to engage with businesses, then there are still endless hobby websites out there that do little other than produce content for free, without any popups, ads, upsells, etc.

b3lvedere 3y ago
I will consume (information) how i see fit. Not how other people/companies think i should consume. If they have a problem with that, it is totally in their legal right to try and do something about it. Just as it is still totally in my legal right to consume (information) how i see fit. This may or may not involve legal workarounds. I do not care if their business/earning model is not compatible with my method of consuming (information).
wffurr 3y ago
Why not let me read first and then prompt? "Want more like this? Enter your email to subscribe." You could probably get much higher conversion and lower unsubscribe rates by only going after readers who stuck around a bit.
asgerhb 3y ago
This is only applicable if these businesses spend $0 on SEO. If they want to clog up the top results, then I reserve the right to complain about them.
- boplicity 3y ago
  Google could very easily populate search results with mainly non-commercial websites. However, they are very strongly incentivized to support commercial websites; I believe this explains why they don't generally penalize popups and similar things.
Gordonjcp 3y ago
> Unfortunately, most websites require an actual business model to consistently produce content. Business models usually need a form of lead gathering, or audience building. (Which is, frankly, core to most businesses.) So why should I pay to support their unsustainable project?
Jaygles 3y ago
If businesses want money for their content, then they should ask for money BEFORE they send it to whoever asks. Pestering someone after they send the article feels so scummy. There's a group of guys near where I live who stand around and hand CDs to tourists, and after a minute of chatting, start asking for "donations". It's the same vibe. Giving something of value to someone then using that to set the expectation that they should give something of value back. If you give something away, in my opinion, the transaction is complete. Trying to use that to get something in return is manipulative.
jmbwell 3y ago
I think the author of the article and many commenters here are saying they are more than happy to take their eyeballs to web sites that express a different worldview, or at least a different attitude toward users.
Karellen 3y ago
I'm a fan of LWN.net's[0] business model. (Enough that it's the only news source I actually subscribe to). Links to external news articles are free for anyone to read, and for all account owners (paid or not) to comment on. Featured articles by LWN's paid contributors are available for paid subscribers to read and comment on immediately, and for everyone else to read and for unpaid account owners to comment on between 7-14 days after first publication.[1] If you want to check out their past article quality, or just read interesting previous articles, you don't even need an account. No pop-ups. No generic nag screens. If you're not a paid subscriber and you go to view an article you can't view yet, it tells you it's currently for subscribers only and how to get a subscription if you want one, but also tells you the date that the article will become free to read without a subscription. Yes, I lurked for a few years before I became a paid member. Because I was able to read everything for free, the site built its reputation for me to the point where I was happy to subscribe to get those featured articles just a bit sooner. (And be able to participate in the comments in a timely fashion.) [0] https://lwn.net/ https://lwn.net/ [1] It's a bit complicated. Featured articles from throughout the week are collected every Thursday into the "Weekly Edition", and the Thursday after that that Weekly edition and all its articles are available for free.
nicbou 3y ago
This is a common trope on Hacker News. Nothing is ever free enough, and no one is ever satisfied. As many people pointed out, if you don't fall into the sales funnel, the business does not care about you anyway. Still, I wish that browsing the internet didn't feel like being a tourist in a bazaar.

b3lvedere 3y ago

I will consume (information) how i see fit. Not how other people/companies think i should consume. If they have a problem with that, it is totally in their legal right to try and do something about it. Just as it is still totally in my legal right to consume (information) how i see fit. This may or may not involve legal workarounds. I do not care if their business/earning model is not compatible with my method of consuming (information).

wffurr 3y ago

Why not let me read first and then prompt? "Want more like this? Enter your email to subscribe." You could probably get much higher conversion and lower unsubscribe rates by only going after readers who stuck around a bit.

asgerhb 3y ago

This is only applicable if these businesses spend $0 on SEO. If they want to clog up the top results, then I reserve the right to complain about them.

boplicity 3y ago
Google could very easily populate search results with mainly non-commercial websites. However, they are very strongly incentivized to support commercial websites; I believe this explains why they don't generally penalize popups and similar things.

Gordonjcp 3y ago

> Unfortunately, most websites require an actual business model to consistently produce content. Business models usually need a form of lead gathering, or audience building. (Which is, frankly, core to most businesses.) So why should I pay to support their unsustainable project?

Jaygles 3y ago

If businesses want money for their content, then they should ask for money BEFORE they send it to whoever asks. Pestering someone after they send the article feels so scummy. There's a group of guys near where I live who stand around and hand CDs to tourists, and after a minute of chatting, start asking for "donations". It's the same vibe. Giving something of value to someone then using that to set the expectation that they should give something of value back. If you give something away, in my opinion, the transaction is complete. Trying to use that to get something in return is manipulative.

jmbwell 3y ago

I think the author of the article and many commenters here are saying they are more than happy to take their eyeballs to web sites that express a different worldview, or at least a different attitude toward users.

Karellen 3y ago

I'm a fan of LWN.net's[0] business model. (Enough that it's the only news source I actually subscribe to). Links to external news articles are free for anyone to read, and for all account owners (paid or not) to comment on. Featured articles by LWN's paid contributors are available for paid subscribers to read and comment on immediately, and for everyone else to read and for unpaid account owners to comment on between 7-14 days after first publication.[1] If you want to check out their past article quality, or just read interesting previous articles, you don't even need an account. No pop-ups. No generic nag screens. If you're not a paid subscriber and you go to view an article you can't view yet, it tells you it's currently for subscribers only and how to get a subscription if you want one, but also tells you the date that the article will become free to read without a subscription. Yes, I lurked for a few years before I became a paid member. Because I was able to read everything for free, the site built its reputation for me to the point where I was happy to subscribe to get those featured articles just a bit sooner. (And be able to participate in the comments in a timely fashion.) [0] https://lwn.net/ https://lwn.net/ [1] It's a bit complicated. Featured articles from throughout the week are collected every Thursday into the "Weekly Edition", and the Thursday after that that Weekly edition and all its articles are available for free.

nicbou 3y ago

This is a common trope on Hacker News. Nothing is ever free enough, and no one is ever satisfied. As many people pointed out, if you don't fall into the sales funnel, the business does not care about you anyway. Still, I wish that browsing the internet didn't feel like being a tourist in a bazaar.