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Recently, the ad industry was rattled at its core as Google announced they would be adding an ad blocker to Chrome in 2018 that will rigorously block invasive (obtrusive) ads. Why would a company like Google that makes millions off ads take such a step? All over the world, ad creators are frantically calling their lawyers while comment sections are overflowing with doom and gloom. Is Google taking the side of annoyed Internet users or are they simply using their market power to kill off rivals? Maybe both.
At first glance, Google's decision to develop an ad blocker may seem like Godzilla attempting to become housing minister. For years, the company has woven an ever tighter network of ads that affects not only the search engine but also numerous partner sites. If only there were no users that persistently fight the joy of ads with ad blockers and similar software. It may have been disruptive ads that forced users to wait, autoplay videos or popups that broke the camels back. If you've ever been screamed at by an ad on your cellphone in the dead of night you know what I'm talking about. Knowing that, in many cases, the traffic caused by ads on mobile news sites far outweighs the actual content doesn't help matters and justifiably outrages users even more.
Not only have ads become a nuisance but they can also pose a real threat. Many sites are now selling ad spaces through intermediaries that may occasionally turn a blind eye when dealing with shady customers. Consequently, even reputable sites have unknowingly contributed to the distribution of malware in the past in the form of inconspicuous ads that surreptitiously redirected users to infected websites. Others suddenly found themselves with suspicious cookies or personalized ads that had the potential to cause marital disputes. If you were using an ad blocker, you were safe from all this so this is not only about freedom of advertising but also security.
Ads as security risks - malware included
As the number of frustrated users with ad blockers increased, the advertising industry, including Google, took a considerable hit to their revenue. That's why they came up with the Coalition for Better Ads initiative with the goal of rendering ad blockers unnecessary. They're hoping to achieve this by embedding ads in a more harmonious way into websites instead of forcing them down our throats. Have they had any success so far? Nobody knows as there are no official statements. Even though most users are aware that many web offerings are financed through ads, 25 to 40 percent (depending on the country) already use ad blocking tools. Reason enough for Google to take this matter more seriously and to leverage the full potential of their market power. In the future, websites that fail to play by the rules will trigger the new blocking mechanism and their Google Search ranking will go down. This would be a nightmare for the affected sites.
Many Internet-dependent companies (often publishers with powerful news outlets) already feel cornered and have recently begun filing lawsuit after lawsuit against the creators of existing ad blockers even calling for country-wide bans. They consider using their offers without viewing their ads outright theft and now Google has the audacity to integrate ad blocking technology directly into Chrome - it's an existential threat and negates their business model. On top of that, there are those who believe Google will generously exclude their own ads from the new blocking mechanism. This would increase the already substantial market power of the search giant even further and companies that don't cooperate, i.e. pay Google, or violate Google's guidelines could be seriously harmed.
Skeptics are already foretelling the end of ad blocking technology as we know it once the courts become involved. They argue that dampening Google's efforts in court could be followed by a total ban if only because of the non-discrimination principle. Both legislature and judiciary often struggle with Internet-related issues and may set momentous precedents all too easily. Will we some day be forced to watch ads?
The solution can only be applying common sense which seems to be quite rare on the Internet these days. Google's approach of making ads more agreeable and alleviating the pain of Internet users is certainly welcome but it's quite possible they will try to line their own pockets in the process. Still, I know many users that don't grudge companies their ad revenue as long as this doesn't entail long waiting periods, nagging animations and autoplay videos. It's like watching a busker. You gladly pay a little money for the performance but only if the performer doesn't keep following you wherever you go and doesn't get louder every second. If content creators manage to harmoniously blend ads with content we might yet have pleasant web browsing experiences one day.
What I would like to know: do you use ad blockers and do you find online ads annoying or do you simply sight tight and close whatever comes?
I always use an ad-blocker as I find "the internet" totally unbearable without one.
I use ad-blockers on all my devices. Until there is some accountability for the distribution of malware via ad networks, I consider it self defense. If the ad companies don't like it, they need to step up and take ownership of the issue of malware-laden ads.
Bring it on, as it would make the innovation/imagination of the ad industry 'sharpen their pencils.'
Some ads I don't mind. If they are eye-catching, potentially contain useful information, or are educational.
The ads I hate the most, and whose creators' necks I'd like to wring, are the ones that pop up (same or different window or tab) and won't go away; the most common culprit is some company trying to tell me I have a gazillion viruses, malwares, etc. on my system - when they ARE the malware that won't go away. Whether on smartphone or computer, they can only be controlled by closing a browser tab, or an entire window.
Others I hate are ones you mentioned in your article as auto-play videos (with sound at full screeching non-rock concert compliant levels (yeah, some seem to be that loud).
Yet others open themselves in another tab or window (as a pop-under), and start playing a video with obtrusively loud sound; I've sometimes spent what seems like five minutes looking for the source of said audio track before eventually finding it about 10 pop-under levels down.
Yes, I DO use ad-blockers, and will continue to do so as long as no one ELSE is policing these nasties!
I, for one, am very happy that we have ad blockers, and will continue to support them.
I have always used Ad Blockers as I believe that I am paying for ny Internet time so I should be able to use it as I see fit. The same with Mobile Phones, I am paying my phone company to use their communication system not gain extra revenue from sending me ads that I don't want. If I want something I will contact them and choose who I give my money to not instead of a company that pushes their products. When the companies start offering to pay some of my Phone bill or some of my internet I might accept some of their ads but I don't think this is very likely to occur.
I have never understood 'personalised' internet ads. They are apparently supposed to spot what an individual is interested in buying, and then fire ads for such items at that individual.
In my experience, however, they frequently arrive late to the party. As soon as I have bought a product online, I find myself the target of ads for that self-same product!
"Just bought a new Jones Paper Shredder? Why not buy this Jones Paper Shredder?"
I don't have an add blocker but I find some ads very annoying, especially he ones that come up every time you log on to your browser for ever, you would think that after a few weeks you don't buy their product they would get the message.
The aspect of Ads I find annoying is not that they are there in the first place, it is their lack of sophistication. The Ad systems purport to be sophisticated in that they target one based on browsing history, which is fine, but lately I have had to try and block Ads for things that I have already purchased. I do not want ANOTHER new car, I do not want ANOTHER pair of shoes, and I do not require more than one tent! Although there are some Ads that are annoying in that they sometimes are so big they pop up over the article I am trying to read.
Yes I use AD-BLOCK and have for many years but now sites
stop me and tell me to disable. I change sites so far there is
no AD-BLOCKER for Microsoft Edge that is free. So might have to change to Google.
Tony Macdonald.
I'd go insane if it wasn't for my adblocker, I'm retired and don't need any of the rubbish being pushed. The worst offenders are newspaper pages, I can't see the print because it constantly dances around whilst the ads keep loading and unloading. Then they wail "You're using an adblocker, please turn it off because that's where we make most of our revenue" No, I won't turn it off, I'll just turn your site off thank-you.
Yes, I do use ad blockers on my pc and adroïd smartphone and tablet and YES, I think ads are very annoying. Android apps sometimes offer adfree payed versions and when I use such an app frequently I prefer to use a payed version.
Did you ever try to watch a YouTube movie over a wireless network via your TV monitor? Every six minutes an ad playing rap music in some weird ad played. Same ad drove me crazy until about the 45 minute point when I disconnected the YouTube movie. Haven't found a way to stop those ads.
My mobile doesn't have unlimited gigabytes of data. Last month my data hit almost 2 gigs up from 300 megs the month before. We are paying for the ads without realizing it at least on mobile devices. AdBlocker works great and since I don't use Google for searches the PC data is very low. Advertising agencies are lost in the dark ages and have very little insight on what the Internet user wants to see or read without interruptions.
Yes, I use an ad blocker. It is a necessity, but so are ads, and not all ads are objectionable. How about a system of selective ad blocking. I appreciate knowing about new products and developments. So why not have the option to see or not to see certain ads. That way the seller gets his product advertised and I get to choose which ads I’m interested in. That would be a win-win for the seller, buyer and ISP. Come on developers, write some code for this.
I hate all advertising, it's nearly all crass, patronising and irrelevant. I'd rather not see or hear it and we record commercial channels so we can ff through the ads now running at 30% of broadcast time.
Due to a hardware breakdown, I was forced onto Windows 10 and had to use the BT email program because nothing else would work. I paid for an adblocker because it was the only way to stop all those annoying pop-ups and animated images surrounding my email page. It seems to block all the ads & click bait in Chrome, I'm really happy with it.
Despite using an Ad Blocker, I cannot get rid of all the superfluous advertising and even after using AdChoices there are still annoying ads I neither require or asked for but like most people, I possess enought intelligence not to click on everything I see on the internet.
I despise auto video ads. I have used an ad blocker for years. I don't mind "itelligent" ads, but hate ads designed for "10 year olds". The most used button on my TV remote is "mute."
Here's why I use an ad blocker - First it's wh***DO YOU WANT BIGGER BREASTS?!?!?!?***en I'm trying to type something and I get stopped by an ad, that I have to stop, find the close icon, and click to close.. (and no, I'm a guy, I do not want bigger breasts dammit) Next up is when I'm simply checking my email - and (MALWARE ALERT! - links on this page are trying to hijack your information) and I have to now stop and fiddle with my antivirus/anti-malware software to clear that...
Then of course there are the SCREAMING ads that either blast unwanted noise at me, or pop a video that I have ZERO interest in watching in my face - once again forcing me to stop doing what I'm doing and close it...
Look, if I'm reading a magazine, there are ads on every page - I may find some interesting and stop to read them - but I can also just ignore them and read the article I want to read...And read the ads I want to read WHEN I WANT TO.
When I found that just accessing my email in a browser got virus' and malware attacks, the ad-blocker got set on high.
When sites and pages just simply have static ads that I can choose to click at my leisure, or choose to ignore, I don't mind them being there....
Now a note to ADVERTISERS - If you place a static non-intrusive ad on the side of the page I'm looking at, I may click it if it interests me.... BUT - if your ad jumps off the page and blocks what I'm doing - or SCREAMS at me and makes me mute my sound, or popup or popunder windows that again force me to waste my time closing.... I WILL NOT, EVER EVER click your ad - OR BUY YOUR PRODUCT under any circumstance!!! You have offended me, and I'm sure I can find someone who respects their customers to get my business.
To me, an ad blocker installed on your browser is analogous to the mute button on your TV remote control device and to think that ad blockers could generate lawsuits is beyond ludicrous.
If a web site complains that I have an ad blocker and wants me to disable it, I simply find another web site.
Sooner or later, advertising seems to ruin everything. We put up with it where we have to and we block it where we can.
That's actually a great comparison! Sometimes after having read the comments, I'd just love to revise the texts and steal your ideas. :)
I use an adblocker - otherwise I find the internet almost unusable. I dumped my handheld after receiving ads - I don't really need it, I just have a simple cheap voice and text mobile - never had problem on that. In 25 years on the internet I have never, ever bought a product through push-ads, only those products I know I want and look for. I understand the financial dynamics of it, and am happy to enjoy for free the sites for which the adverts pay, though why the advertisers should imagine it's worth their while, I don't know. As long as I can enjoy the sites with out idiot ads I am happy with the current status quo, When I can't avoid them I generally stop using the site. The new form of pop up that defies adblocking is particularly annoying.
I've noticed that lately Google has been messing with pre-installed apps on my phone by sending down updates that make them either stop functioning entirely or slow them down to try to make you use Google apps that throw you Google's ads rather than a third party's. Example : an update came down for Messaging (a stock Android app which doesn't contain ads) last week which has caused it not to receive texts although it sends them. I uninstalled it, and tried installing several other text apps, including older versions of Messages, with the same result. The only one that's allowed to receive is Hangouts, which contains Google ads. I use an ad blocker with Firefox but, since a May 22nd update, Firefox crashes every time I try to use Duck Duck Go or Bing to search. I tried uninstalling it and reinstalled the pre-update version backed up on my SD card, but it crashes every time I try to boot it. Interestingly, those other search engines also crash Safari and opera, but function perfectly with Chrome. I must now use the Google search engine, which I had tried to avoid because it draws Google's ads over the results and returns so much sponsored content that you frequently have to load page 2 of results before you see the first unsponsored link, if I use Firefox. I don't have unlimited data with my plan and this uses more than I'd like to. When I first started using Android, Firefox would load pages at the same speed as Chrome, but lately, it loads more slowly over a 60+ Mbps wifi connection than Chrome does using data. After the latest update, Flickr uploader only uploads if the app is open, on screen. It used to work in the background even if you didn't open the app. Google Photos still works in the background, but it uploads at less than half the speed Flickr does,and it gives you much less free storage. I've had it with their attempts to control my phone and which apps I use (that's why I rooted it), and am now shopping for an iPhone.
I Always use ad blocking and never visit the click-through sites.
I use Adblock+ and it suits the very limited web browsing that I engage in. Just occassionally I come across a site that requests me to make an exception but my automatic response is always to close that tab and not bother. Of course cookies need to be flushed on a regular basis as well.
I use Ghostery, it blocks more ads than AdBlock
I use an ad blocker and I am annoyed at Google for not opening a page on the list of sites which appear when searching for a chosen site.
If the ad is not in Googles list it will show "Page Not Found."
Most ads are an annoying intrusion into peoples' lives, most are too ridiculous to understand, far removed from the realities of life and generally bear little resemblance to the product advertised.
Computer and TV, thankfully a VPN allows viewing pleasure instead of being forced to watch ads on TV, in between very small portions of a movie or interesting series.
I use Adbloc , Adblok Plus, Script Defender and Block Site Plus.
Ads are annoying and a waste of my time.
Dave J