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>>Of course, at this point we should step back and ask “why were the adverts there in the first place?” Oh yes, because they help pay for the content. In some –

by zodPod 11y ago

>>Of course, at this point we should step back and ask “why were the adverts there in the first place?” Oh yes, because they help pay for the content. In some – well, many, almost all – cases, they pay for all of the content. Honestly? I don't give a crap. Too many places have abused it and thrown stupid crap in just so they can make money. Just like the idiots who are careless with fireworks and then states ban them, the idiots have ruined it. It may not be fair or completely make sense but I don't want to see your ad NOR do I want your stupid newsletter so I'm going to block the modal window along with every ad on your site just so you end up losing money. My favorite has been the "Complete survey to continue reading the article" or "Become a member to continue reading the article". Both of which cause me to just go, "Ok, well screw your site then. I'll go find one of the million other publishers of the exact same article on the internet. You don't have a scare resource anymore because you're just another bullshit media rewriter."

redblacktree 11y ago
When I'm presented with "answer a survey to continue" ads, I purposefully don't read the question and pick an answer at random. I hope others do the same, so that the survey results are entirely useless.
- x0 11y ago
  Well, I do as well, so that's two at least.
- zodPod 11y ago
  In my case, if I actually answer it, I read the question and pick the exact opposite of what applies. "What is your age range: 0-17 18-25 26-35 <-Normal 35-50 50+ <- My answer" That way, if they're using the information for anything then I've hopefully screwed up their targeting at least a little!
AUmrysh 11y ago
My opinion is that they are serving me data, I can view/consume that data however I would like. It's not my responsibility to view the ads they put on their page, and if I want to increase the font size or disable javascript, that's my business.
MadcapJake 11y ago
Like the New York Times....pretty sure they're not all "bullshit media rewriters" there. Expect a LOT more "Become a member" or "Subscribe to..." websites as adblockers become more popular.
- zodPod 11y ago
  Which will likely, hopefully, just create a new media. Things like Periscope. Newer generations will ignore the big media garbage and follow citizen reporting. This is all speculation and I'm sure there are problems with it but these big companies will just be digging their own graves with bull crap like that. They already have enough trouble selling print media who's going to pay them for their content (which is 80% useless filler anyway) when they start doing that. I do understand smaller bloggers and stuff will have a similar problem but it's people like those that will actually GET subscriptions and who I'd actually be willing to pay for their content if they didn't bombard me with bull crap when I loaded their pages.
  - untog 11y ago
    Which will likely, hopefully, just create a new media. Things like Periscope. And how would Periscope users get paid, exactly?
  - s73v3r 11y ago
    "Things like Periscope." And how do you expect things like Periscope to stay in business without earning revenue?
- nine_k 11y ago
  With all my respect to quality media like NYT, I don't want a full-scale subscription. What I'd like is paying a few cents for a specific article in a hassle-free way. Micropayments are hard because of the transaction costs, but this seems to slowly change (see e.g. flattr). I wish more sites offered a per-view zero-setup one-click micropayment solution. What's more interesting is what Google will do if their ads revenue shrinks considerably — I suppose 99% of their income is targeted online context ads.
s73v3r 11y ago
Then stop using them. Problem solved. On an unrelated note, we're gonna need you to come in and work for free this weekend.

by zodPod 11y ago

redblacktree 11y ago

When I'm presented with "answer a survey to continue" ads, I purposefully don't read the question and pick an answer at random. I hope others do the same, so that the survey results are entirely useless.

x0 11y ago
Well, I do as well, so that's two at least.
zodPod 11y ago
In my case, if I actually answer it, I read the question and pick the exact opposite of what applies. "What is your age range: 0-17 18-25 26-35 <-Normal 35-50 50+ <- My answer" That way, if they're using the information for anything then I've hopefully screwed up their targeting at least a little!

AUmrysh 11y ago

My opinion is that they are serving me data, I can view/consume that data however I would like. It's not my responsibility to view the ads they put on their page, and if I want to increase the font size or disable javascript, that's my business.

MadcapJake 11y ago

Like the New York Times....pretty sure they're not all "bullshit media rewriters" there. Expect a LOT more "Become a member" or "Subscribe to..." websites as adblockers become more popular.

zodPod 11y ago
Which will likely, hopefully, just create a new media. Things like Periscope. Newer generations will ignore the big media garbage and follow citizen reporting. This is all speculation and I'm sure there are problems with it but these big companies will just be digging their own graves with bull crap like that. They already have enough trouble selling print media who's going to pay them for their content (which is 80% useless filler anyway) when they start doing that. I do understand smaller bloggers and stuff will have a similar problem but it's people like those that will actually GET subscriptions and who I'd actually be willing to pay for their content if they didn't bombard me with bull crap when I loaded their pages.
- untog 11y ago
  Which will likely, hopefully, just create a new media. Things like Periscope. And how would Periscope users get paid, exactly?
- s73v3r 11y ago
  "Things like Periscope." And how do you expect things like Periscope to stay in business without earning revenue?
nine_k 11y ago
With all my respect to quality media like NYT, I don't want a full-scale subscription. What I'd like is paying a few cents for a specific article in a hassle-free way. Micropayments are hard because of the transaction costs, but this seems to slowly change (see e.g. flattr). I wish more sites offered a per-view zero-setup one-click micropayment solution. What's more interesting is what Google will do if their ads revenue shrinks considerably — I suppose 99% of their income is targeted online context ads.

s73v3r 11y ago

Then stop using them. Problem solved. On an unrelated note, we're gonna need you to come in and work for free this weekend.