Asklemmy

As I can remember I have always been using ad blockers. The few times I don't is when I buy a new device and I have to setup the browser, but the first thing I search is the browser store and install uBlock Origin. The internet is unusable without it, too many ads, too many sponsored sites. Without an ad blocker I would probably not use internet this much since the experience is awful

At this point, the internet is so goddamn unusable without an adblocker that I don't know why anyone would try.

At work, I'll occasionally start talking to someone about some fandom like Star Wars or Pathfinder or whatever. I'll go to the wikia or fandom page for them and suddenly I get a million popups and half the page is covered in ads. It's actually so bad that my work's filter will occasionally block a site because they'll say that the ads are too bad.

The only time I see ads now is when I watch YouTube or Hulu on my TV, but even then I try to cast from my desktop (though Hulu ads seem to break through). I understand the idea of supporting creators, but for most YouTubers, their money comes from the sponsorships, not from me watching an ad.

I even sometimes walk out of the room to do something else when the TV adverts come on, otherwise I ignore them. No one has ever accused me of denying a tv channel of revenue.

If a creator is really useful, I support them directly through donations or paid subscriptions. Other than that, I can't stand ads.

Yes. When I visit my parents, who don't use adblocker, I get really anxious when I have to face the enormous flood of ads that you get without it. I wouldn't be able to concetrate to anything if I were interupted frequently with ad breaks. I also hate how ads volume loudness has been maximized, so they sound more loud than normal content.

Absolutely. Not using adblock is just asking to get malware, on top of ads being wildly obnoxious. And most sites are CRAMMED with ads to the point that they're basically ureadable.

I also subscribe to a lot of patreons and such because I want to support creators. But I'd stop consuming someone's content before I turned off my ad blocker, if they decided that was the hill they wanted to die on.

Ads are mental poison, so yes.

I do, because they are my devices and I get to choose what they do. Not some content creator.

Been using adblock for years now, I haven't seen a single ad on my devices since then.

Last week my wife used her iPad so we could watch a video and I saw 2 ads in a row, it was kind of a strange experience.

If a creator needs money I'll donate directly to them, and if the only way to support is ads, then what a shame, I'm not gonna watch ads just because of a creator.

Yes. I have a whole house dns adlock AND iuse a browser adblock as well.

Too many websites are COMPLETE SHIT TO NAVIGATE without adblock. They will be slow to load because of all the ad servers loading in. They fill so much of their space with ads that the main Co tent you're there to see is obfuscated. They break content up with ads, so you're forced to scroll past them.

I have never understood why we legally allow advertising at all. Why should we let companies harass literally anyone with advertisements? I know literally nobody who likes seeing ads on any kind of content. It's an incredibly annoying thing we have normalized, and it needs to get cut back.

Ever since my Unifi Dream Machine Pro router was updated with VPN and pihole functionality, I haven't needed to use any adblocking. I can route all my traffic through my home network and it blocks ads in every context, including in apps.

As might be obvious, I completely disagree with the tweet. I hate ads. They're predatory and abusive and they ruin the internet. Anybody who is willing to be responsible with ads has a donate/subscribe option anyway. The auto play video people with dark patterns etc. need to be obliterated. But I probably hate them even less than I hate sites like the New York Times, which charge a subscription fee and then fill their site and apps with ads anyway. Fuck off.

I have been using adblockers for more than 20 years, probably read a post about it on Slashdot and I think userfriendly.org could have mentioned it.

A site added big blinking ads left, right and top and that pissed me off, I installed AdBlocker on FF and never looked back.

If I don't block ads, then I'm stealing from the advertiser who's paying per impression to someone who isn't interested in their crap.

If the ad makes noise, moves around the screen, crashes my browser, or otherwise actively interferes with my ability to obtain the information I was looking for, It'll leave me with such a negative impression that I won't buy anything from that brand, now or ever -- or from the creator who allowed them to break an otherwise good website.

So really, by blocking ads, I'm defending the good reputation of both creators and their sponsors.

If you use adblock, you don't care about creator's point blank

This sounds a lot like not tipping being a bad thing.

Ads and tipping denigrate my daily experience. So I'm not going to suffer either.

Blocking ads is also just more secure as it's a vector for so many exploits.

In conclusion, I don't agree with them at all.

Probably close to 20 years ago at this point, when visiting the official forums for a game I loved, my computer was infected by malware delivered by a malicious ad. This was not some seedy part of the internet, but a website hosted by a major game publisher whose product I enjoyed.

Try as I might, I could not revert the damage caused by the virus, so the only recourse I had was to just blank slate wipe it clean and start over.

Today, I acknowledge that most websites more tightly control the ads they host, but the trust is forever broken. As soon as the option became available to me, I installed the best adblocker I could find and never looked back. No exceptions.

The truth is that every ad is malicious, to small degrees. They want to commodify your eyeballs and take up space in your mind. They're trying to create a need where one does not exist, and will use whatever tactic they can to try to part you from your hard-earned money. They're a barrier between you and the content you want to enjoy—in many cases content that you paid to enjoy.

Even if it's in the name of supporting a website/service I enjoy, I can't confidently turn off my ad blocker anymore. It only takes one malicious ad to sneak through the cracks to cause disaster.

There has got to be a better way of running an online business without having to completely fill the space with ads.

I've used it for the past decade. Literally the only time I see ads is when I look at other people's devices and wonder how TF they use them.

The argument to turn off your adblocker is like a circus ringleader demanding the audience’s money for the sake of the lion, even while he beats the lion.

Yes, uBlock Origin on Firefox and AdGuard on mobile devices. Can't live without adblock these days, especially for watching YouTube.

I use adblockers wherever possible. For instance, Iceraven with Ublock Origins in my phone, Firefox with Ublock Origins in PC, Infinity for Reddit (will stop using on 30th June), XManager for Spotify and Revanced Extended for YouTube.

Not all creators are influencers, but all influencers are one-person ad distrubutor agencies. Most of the influencers business model is based on ad revenue and making ads themselves (collabs).

Ads can deliver viruses, many ads are animated or have sound, or both. If every ad were static and safe, I wouldn't mind so much... but alas, that's not a thing. So AdBlock it is!

Yeah, I use ublock origin. I don't like the ad model and many ads on the web are privacy invasive. I'm not averse paying for content (something I'm doing for some of it) but I won't watch ads to fund creators.

Wanna know why I use ublock origin eveywhere? If you're brave (and dumb) go to wordhippo.com with a "naked" browser (no adblock and default privacy settings). Then come back and talk to me when you've removed all the malware from your system.

I used to on my phone, but then i started using foss apps and disabling JavaScript, so i never see ads unless sponsors are in a yt vid i watch