3 ms·

It depends on how you interpret what ads do. I find that they tend to manipulate people into buying things they don't actually want or need. If you say that we

It depends on how you interpret what ads do. I find that they tend to manipulate people into buying things they don't actually want or need. If you say that we should ban public cigarette ads, for example, you're kind of proving the point (which is why I mentioned banning additional ads if you agreed with banning cigarette or alcohol ads). Also, you run an adblocker, as do many (most?) people. Why is that? Don't you want to be more informed about products you might want? Personally I don't want to be informed at all. If I never saw another billboard, Internet ad/banner, etc. in my life it would be great. I don't consent to being advertised to in such a broad, and distracting manner either.

donatj 3y ago
> I find that they tend to manipulate people into buying things they don't actually want This just seems silly. When was the last time you came home from the store with something, look around “I don’t have a use for this? Why did I buy this?” And I don’t run an ad blocker because I equate it with petty theft. Sites offer you content. Content costs money to create and host. They offer it in exchange for showing you ads. If you don’t like someone’s terms in a barter you don’t morally get to take their side for free.
- nobody9999 3y ago
  >Sites offer you content. Content costs money to create and host. They offer it in exchange for showing you ads. If you don’t like someone’s terms in a barter you don’t morally get to take their side for free. I take your point, but the other side of the coin is that I want to control what is executed/displayed on my computers (that is, my private property). Especially since it's not just ads. It's web trackers/beacons and other tools to surreptitiously gather data about me. And I don't want to share my PII/browsing habits/interests with a bunch of strangers who just want to sell me stuff[0]. If a web site (someone else's private property) chooses to serve ads, I am under no obligation to download/execute/display those ads or anything else for that matter. And if the owner/publisher of a website wants to insist on showing me ads (by identifying ad blockers and refusing to display actual content -- which some sites do) -- unless I disable my ad blocker), that's the website publisher's right on their private property. But I'll say it again -- I will control what content is displayed/executed/downloaded on my private property. You seem to think that I should give control of my devices to someone else in order to consume their content. I'm unwilling to do so. As such, if someone else doesn't like that, they are free to block me from viewing their site. But I'm not "stealing" by blocking ads, rather I'm protecting my own interests. If you (or anyone else) wants me not to do that, then block me if I'm using an ad blocker. Making the claim that it's somehow "stealing" is ridiculous on its face. [0] To put a really fine point on that: Fuck that noise!

donatj 3y ago

> I find that they tend to manipulate people into buying things they don't actually want This just seems silly. When was the last time you came home from the store with something, look around “I don’t have a use for this? Why did I buy this?” And I don’t run an ad blocker because I equate it with petty theft. Sites offer you content. Content costs money to create and host. They offer it in exchange for showing you ads. If you don’t like someone’s terms in a barter you don’t morally get to take their side for free.

nobody9999 3y ago
>Sites offer you content. Content costs money to create and host. They offer it in exchange for showing you ads. If you don’t like someone’s terms in a barter you don’t morally get to take their side for free. I take your point, but the other side of the coin is that I want to control what is executed/displayed on my computers (that is, my private property). Especially since it's not just ads. It's web trackers/beacons and other tools to surreptitiously gather data about me. And I don't want to share my PII/browsing habits/interests with a bunch of strangers who just want to sell me stuff[0]. If a web site (someone else's private property) chooses to serve ads, I am under no obligation to download/execute/display those ads or anything else for that matter. And if the owner/publisher of a website wants to insist on showing me ads (by identifying ad blockers and refusing to display actual content -- which some sites do) -- unless I disable my ad blocker), that's the website publisher's right on their private property. But I'll say it again -- I will control what content is displayed/executed/downloaded on my private property. You seem to think that I should give control of my devices to someone else in order to consume their content. I'm unwilling to do so. As such, if someone else doesn't like that, they are free to block me from viewing their site. But I'm not "stealing" by blocking ads, rather I'm protecting my own interests. If you (or anyone else) wants me not to do that, then block me if I'm using an ad blocker. Making the claim that it's somehow "stealing" is ridiculous on its face. [0] To put a really fine point on that: Fuck that noise!