5 ms·

Definitely a solution. For many years web sucked. Still sucks (and much more). I personally, do not care for any company that stores cookies on >my< system wit

Definitely a solution. For many years web sucked. Still sucks (and much more). I personally, do not care for any company that stores cookies on >my< system without my permission.

eli 13y ago
Understanding that other people's business models aren't your problem... what would you prefer publishers do instead? Paid subscriptions? Micropayments? "Sponsored Content"? Charity work?
- _cipher_ 13y ago
  Well, the article does not talk about publishers, does it? As my comment, it speaks about ad business. I would not have any problem with a nice banner, clickable, possibly surrounded by a color that does not make me want to pull out my eyes with a fork after having 4 seisures and 2 strokes. I do though have a problem, when a 3rd party tries to track everyone, and possibly without the publishers you're speaking of know anything about what's running on his site (they do not care, why should I?). What I would prefer publishers to do: write something useful and meaningful, and make users come back because of your content. Be it a book, a fanfic, a blog with random thoughts, poetry, etc. People seem to forget that web is about meaningful content. This is how you attract users. And some last lines while we're at it. Why is it always the question "if we [publishers] stop using ads, what'll we do"? I seriously do not care. I do not HAVE to care. Same goes for any user. It's his job to find a way (hint: meaningful content) to get revenue. He's the boss after all, right? ;)
  - eli 13y ago
    True enough, but the online ad business is inextricably tied to the online publishing business. AdBlock is a problem [1] because if you're using it then how would you even know that my banner ads are all respectful and relevant? Like I said: I understand it isn't your problem to figure out how the sites you enjoy will stay in business. But I think it's worth thinking about. > It's his job to find a way (hint: meaningful content) to get revenue You mean sites should charge to read their content? How else does one turn meaningful content into revenue without ads? ([1] I actually don't think it's much of a problem at all... yet)
    - betterunix 13y ago
      "AdBlock is a problem [1] because if you're using it then how would you even know that my banner ads are all respectful and relevant?" That is the nice part about ABP's whitelist -- respectful ads are shown, and bad actors are punished. Better still, if you disagree with ABP's judgements, you can (a) disable the whitelist or (b) use a different ad blocker. It is a great idea for what amounts to an industry-wide problem.
      - eli 13y ago
        That's definitely an interesting solution: an independent authority who judges ads worthy. I question how independent ABP is, though, when their (only?) revenue comes from the fees sites pay to get on their whitelist. It gives the appearance of a shakedown. With the default set to block, it's kinda rough on the little guy, too.
- betterunix 13y ago
  How about ads that don't do any of this: * Require me to download megabytes of Javascript and Flash, particularly when I have to pay by the megabyte for my data plan. * Consume excessive CPU time and reduce my battery life * Use CSS to hover over the actual text I was trying to read * Make noise * Pop-ups * Pop-unders * Link to malware * Link to scams * Ignore me when I say "DO NOT TRACK" In other words, show me a modicum of respect. Deliver ads that actually have value for me, rather than treating me like the product you are selling to someone else. Nobody complains about the ads they see on Amazon, largely because Amazon is doing this. The absolute worst thing you can do is try to defeat the ad blocker I installed. That means you have become my adversary -- in which case I have zero reason to care about your revenue stream.
  - eli 13y ago
    If you come up with an Ad Blocker that blocks all those things, but lets "good" ads through, I'd pay for a license! :)
  - JohnTHaller 13y ago
    AdSense in text mode mostly does this. Except there will be spyware/adware apps advertisied.
mindslight 13y ago
They're not really the best solution though. Not enough people run them, and from what I hear the majority of sites now have ads plastered all over them and are run by people who think they should have a say in how my browser behaves. Search results have also become filled with essentially spam generated by people who don't actually care about publishing useful hard-wrought information but just want to trick away your attention and sell it for pennies.

Definitely a solution. For many years web sucked. Still sucks (and much more). I personally, do not care for any company that stores cookies on >my< system without my permission.

eli 13y ago

Understanding that other people's business models aren't your problem... what would you prefer publishers do instead? Paid subscriptions? Micropayments? "Sponsored Content"? Charity work?

_cipher_ 13y ago
Well, the article does not talk about publishers, does it? As my comment, it speaks about ad business. I would not have any problem with a nice banner, clickable, possibly surrounded by a color that does not make me want to pull out my eyes with a fork after having 4 seisures and 2 strokes. I do though have a problem, when a 3rd party tries to track everyone, and possibly without the publishers you're speaking of know anything about what's running on his site (they do not care, why should I?). What I would prefer publishers to do: write something useful and meaningful, and make users come back because of your content. Be it a book, a fanfic, a blog with random thoughts, poetry, etc. People seem to forget that web is about meaningful content. This is how you attract users. And some last lines while we're at it. Why is it always the question "if we [publishers] stop using ads, what'll we do"? I seriously do not care. I do not HAVE to care. Same goes for any user. It's his job to find a way (hint: meaningful content) to get revenue. He's the boss after all, right? ;)
- eli 13y ago
  True enough, but the online ad business is inextricably tied to the online publishing business. AdBlock is a problem [1] because if you're using it then how would you even know that my banner ads are all respectful and relevant? Like I said: I understand it isn't your problem to figure out how the sites you enjoy will stay in business. But I think it's worth thinking about. > It's his job to find a way (hint: meaningful content) to get revenue You mean sites should charge to read their content? How else does one turn meaningful content into revenue without ads? ([1] I actually don't think it's much of a problem at all... yet)
  - betterunix 13y ago
    "AdBlock is a problem [1] because if you're using it then how would you even know that my banner ads are all respectful and relevant?" That is the nice part about ABP's whitelist -- respectful ads are shown, and bad actors are punished. Better still, if you disagree with ABP's judgements, you can (a) disable the whitelist or (b) use a different ad blocker. It is a great idea for what amounts to an industry-wide problem.
    - eli 13y ago
      That's definitely an interesting solution: an independent authority who judges ads worthy. I question how independent ABP is, though, when their (only?) revenue comes from the fees sites pay to get on their whitelist. It gives the appearance of a shakedown. With the default set to block, it's kinda rough on the little guy, too.
betterunix 13y ago
How about ads that don't do any of this: * Require me to download megabytes of Javascript and Flash, particularly when I have to pay by the megabyte for my data plan. * Consume excessive CPU time and reduce my battery life * Use CSS to hover over the actual text I was trying to read * Make noise * Pop-ups * Pop-unders * Link to malware * Link to scams * Ignore me when I say "DO NOT TRACK" In other words, show me a modicum of respect. Deliver ads that actually have value for me, rather than treating me like the product you are selling to someone else. Nobody complains about the ads they see on Amazon, largely because Amazon is doing this. The absolute worst thing you can do is try to defeat the ad blocker I installed. That means you have become my adversary -- in which case I have zero reason to care about your revenue stream.
- eli 13y ago
  If you come up with an Ad Blocker that blocks all those things, but lets "good" ads through, I'd pay for a license! :)
- JohnTHaller 13y ago
  AdSense in text mode mostly does this. Except there will be spyware/adware apps advertisied.

mindslight 13y ago

They're not really the best solution though. Not enough people run them, and from what I hear the majority of sites now have ads plastered all over them and are run by people who think they should have a say in how my browser behaves. Search results have also become filled with essentially spam generated by people who don't actually care about publishing useful hard-wrought information but just want to trick away your attention and sell it for pennies.