7 ms·
I don't understand this common notion that if you don't like the way someone runs their business, you get to change their business model for them. Here's a quot
by Hamhock 19y ago
I don't understand this common notion that if you don't like the way someone runs their business, you get to change their business model for them. Here's a quote from a pro-blocking blog post that nickb linked to in another comment:
"Frankly, as far as I'm concerned, if a webmaster runs a site that's popular enough that the costs become at all significant, the onus is on him (or her) to find ways to cash in on that popularity to keep the site going. The visitors have no duty at all, and they certainly aren't obliged to go out of their way to make money for somebody else."
My response is that they did come up with a way to monetize their content (ads), but you don't like it. Too bad. Don't go to the site if you don't like the way they've chosen to make money. This goes along the same lines that if music is too expensive, or has DRM, that you therefore get to download it for free via filesharing, bittorrent, etc.... You don't. You're only ethical option is to not buy the content. That's the only ethical way you send a message (in this trivial context, obviously if were talking about human rights, etc..., the ethics of protest methodologies become more complicated). If I think something in a brick and mortar store is too expensive, would anyone think it was ok for me to just steal it? I don't think so.
A lot of the complaints about bad advertising practices, obtrusive adds, DRM, overpriced content are in fact valid complaints. But, you don't get to overrule the content provider's methods just because you feel like it.
- Tichy 19y agoSo what is next, it becomes compulsory to actually buy the stuff that is advertised, or else it is stealing? What is the point of pushing ads at people who don't want to see them? The people who go the advertising route know beforehand that not everybody is going to react to the ads and buy something. You are not stealing anything by ignoring the ads.
- steve 19y agoThat's not at all what he said. I think his point was reasonable and fair.
- Hamhock 19y agoBy all means ignore the ads. Using software to physically (so to speak) remove the ads is a much different thing then ignoring them. Advertisers know that a large percentage of viewers are in fact going to ignore them, and that's built into the system. "What is the point of pushing ads at people who don't want to see them?" I don't know, what's the point of charging people money for things when they'd really prefer them to be free? This isn't about what you want. This is about people supplying services and/or content, and trying to monetize them in some manner. Again, if you don't like the way they are monetizing these things, don't use them.
- davidw 19y agoBy serving up some HTML, you're giving away content - you might have some rules about redistribution, of course, but esentially, you're giving some HTML and/or images to someone's browser to render as they see fit. If they choose to ignore or excise some of it, that's their business. For instance, screen readers for blind people ignore images. I sympathize with the advertiser's point of view, because I have several sites myself that get a little bit of money from adsense. However, I'm enough of a believer in freedom to think that if people want to block ads more than they want free content, well, that's what the market will give them in some way or another.
- steve 19y agoYou can't accept this practice as reasonable unless you accept that publishers can also block, or attempt to block, users who block ads. If you ask me, both are fair game.
- davidw 19y agoYeah, I agree. It's sort of an arms race - publishers might also try sneakier ways of slipping ads in. I have a feeling that 99% of users aren't going to get that excited about it unless the ads get overbearingly intrusive.
- Tichy 19y agoWhat is the big difference between ignoring them and not displaying them? I really don't get it, unless you count on the subtle effect on the subconsciousness if you only ignore them, but not display them. And it is an entirely different question from asking money for things that people would rather have for free. Just because you put up some content doesn't mean you get to control the brains of your clients.