3 ms·

It probably depends on the person, but it's clear worthless views are rather overrepresented. Look through the adblock reviews on addons.mozilla.org. When I'm c

by Herring 18y ago

It probably depends on the person, but it's clear worthless views are rather overrepresented. Look through the adblock reviews on addons.mozilla.org. When I'm choosing a new graphics card, I ask around forums instead of looking at ads. Antisocial or not, you'd be wasting your advertiser's budget by trying to target me.

axod 18y ago
I wouldn't be wasting anything if it was a % per sale. So an advert such as "Get 10% off [the graphics card you are about to buy] by using this link" wouldn't interest you at all eh? Also, it's pretty probable that some of the forums you look at are in fact just adverts. They don't look like adverts, adblock doesn't think they're adverts, but they may well be.
- Tichy 18y ago
  No, a "get 10% off" link sounds like a scam.
  - axod 18y ago
    You should start being a bit more trusting and less cynical.
    - Tichy 18y ago
      Trust in advertising? I don't know... How many "get 10% off" offers can there likely be? When I shop for products, I usually check with price comparison sites anyway. They usually have shop ratings, too. What good could a random "10% off" offer do? If they are really cheaper than the competition, why wouldn't they just register with the price comparison site, so that I could find them that way? And if I go to their site through an ad, I don't have any ratings for them. Ultimately I prefer to shop with Amazon anyway, because their customer service is reliable... The chances that an ad pushes something into my face that I really, absolutely need but simply forgot about are rather slim, I think. In conclusion, all good an ad could do to me was to make me buy stuff I don't really need.
      - axod 18y ago
        You do realize the price comparison sites are essentially large adverts, and they get commission when you buy through them?
        Tichy 18y ago
        Yes, but at least I only get to see the advert when I want to see it. Not sure if the commission is more than other costs for advertising, but I guess it shouldn't be.
- Herring 18y ago
  Ok, if it makes you happier, I'll turn off adblock the handful of times a year I'm shopping online. The signal-noise ratio is so bad, I doubt it'll make a difference to either of us. "Also, it's pretty probable that some of the forums you look at are in fact just adverts..." I ask on the sites I usually post.
  - axod 18y ago
    How about a better idea - only enable adblock for sites that annoy you with their ads.
    - Tichy 18y ago
      Isn't that a bit like giving money to beggars? I mean not that one shouldn't donate, but I think economists recommend donating to causes you actually want to support. In India beggars can get their limps removed to get more donations out of pity - by giving to them, one gives them an incentive to cut off their limps??? That was a bit sidetracked, I guess one should also help the occasional beggar. But switching off adblock would give more sites an incentive to put up ads, which is definitely not something I would like to encourage. TipJoy to the rescue?
      - axod 18y ago
        I'd actually say the reverse is true. By using adblock you're decreasing pageviews for certain ads, which may make some websites put more adverts up for those not using adblock. I really don't get the 'tipping' idea. You seem to see adverts as an evil begging tool rather than an extremely useful device that connects an advertiser with an interested consumer. Advertising is supposed to be useful to you. If it's not, then it's just bad advertising. But don't assume all advertising is bad.
        Tichy 18y ago
        Advertising is first of all supposed to be useful to the advertiser. In theory it would be fascinating to create useful advertising, but I don't think the technology is quite there yet. That is why I watch Google, because in my opinion they compete with themselves. On the one hand they want to be the best search engine, on the other hand they want to live off advertising. But if their search was perfect, there would be no more need for advertising. OK, even if there was perfect search, it might still be interesting to get interesting cross-references (ie you are looking for cars and get adverts for car insurance). But then the problem remains that there would only be advertising for commercial things. The perfect search engine would also cross-reference me to non-commercial things. As for begging, I don't think ads work that way (less ad viewers implies more ads). In the long run, the ads would go away if nobody would be watching them (beggars can't go away if they truly have no other choice, so here the analogy falters). Maybe along with the ads, many "free" services would disappear, too. On the other hand, if ads weren't an option, maybe other payment schemes would suddenly gain traction.

by Herring 18y ago

axod 18y ago

I wouldn't be wasting anything if it was a % per sale. So an advert such as "Get 10% off [the graphics card you are about to buy] by using this link" wouldn't interest you at all eh? Also, it's pretty probable that some of the forums you look at are in fact just adverts. They don't look like adverts, adblock doesn't think they're adverts, but they may well be.

Tichy 18y ago
No, a "get 10% off" link sounds like a scam.
- axod 18y ago
  You should start being a bit more trusting and less cynical.
  - Tichy 18y ago
    Trust in advertising? I don't know... How many "get 10% off" offers can there likely be? When I shop for products, I usually check with price comparison sites anyway. They usually have shop ratings, too. What good could a random "10% off" offer do? If they are really cheaper than the competition, why wouldn't they just register with the price comparison site, so that I could find them that way? And if I go to their site through an ad, I don't have any ratings for them. Ultimately I prefer to shop with Amazon anyway, because their customer service is reliable... The chances that an ad pushes something into my face that I really, absolutely need but simply forgot about are rather slim, I think. In conclusion, all good an ad could do to me was to make me buy stuff I don't really need.
    - axod 18y ago
      You do realize the price comparison sites are essentially large adverts, and they get commission when you buy through them?
      - Tichy 18y ago
        Yes, but at least I only get to see the advert when I want to see it. Not sure if the commission is more than other costs for advertising, but I guess it shouldn't be.
Herring 18y ago
Ok, if it makes you happier, I'll turn off adblock the handful of times a year I'm shopping online. The signal-noise ratio is so bad, I doubt it'll make a difference to either of us. "Also, it's pretty probable that some of the forums you look at are in fact just adverts..." I ask on the sites I usually post.
- axod 18y ago
  How about a better idea - only enable adblock for sites that annoy you with their ads.
  - Tichy 18y ago
    Isn't that a bit like giving money to beggars? I mean not that one shouldn't donate, but I think economists recommend donating to causes you actually want to support. In India beggars can get their limps removed to get more donations out of pity - by giving to them, one gives them an incentive to cut off their limps??? That was a bit sidetracked, I guess one should also help the occasional beggar. But switching off adblock would give more sites an incentive to put up ads, which is definitely not something I would like to encourage. TipJoy to the rescue?
    - axod 18y ago
      I'd actually say the reverse is true. By using adblock you're decreasing pageviews for certain ads, which may make some websites put more adverts up for those not using adblock. I really don't get the 'tipping' idea. You seem to see adverts as an evil begging tool rather than an extremely useful device that connects an advertiser with an interested consumer. Advertising is supposed to be useful to you. If it's not, then it's just bad advertising. But don't assume all advertising is bad.
      - Tichy 18y ago
        Advertising is first of all supposed to be useful to the advertiser. In theory it would be fascinating to create useful advertising, but I don't think the technology is quite there yet. That is why I watch Google, because in my opinion they compete with themselves. On the one hand they want to be the best search engine, on the other hand they want to live off advertising. But if their search was perfect, there would be no more need for advertising. OK, even if there was perfect search, it might still be interesting to get interesting cross-references (ie you are looking for cars and get adverts for car insurance). But then the problem remains that there would only be advertising for commercial things. The perfect search engine would also cross-reference me to non-commercial things. As for begging, I don't think ads work that way (less ad viewers implies more ads). In the long run, the ads would go away if nobody would be watching them (beggars can't go away if they truly have no other choice, so here the analogy falters). Maybe along with the ads, many "free" services would disappear, too. On the other hand, if ads weren't an option, maybe other payment schemes would suddenly gain traction.