Is It Time to Start Using an Adblocker?

⏰ Advertising on the internet is broken. It might be time to think about using adblockers and supporting your favorite websites in other ways.

⏰ Adblockers, yea or nay?
I used to be against them, but now I use one. Site usability, manipulative ads, privacy concerns, and malware risks all contributed. Online advertising is fundamentally broken, yet it remains crucial for many sites to stay afloat — including Ask Leo! If you use an adblocker, please consider supporting your favorite sites some other way.

Chapters
0:00 Start Using Adblocker
0:50 Required today the bills
1:05 Success is their downfall
1:30 Manipulation is their downfall
2:20 Tracking is their downfall
3:10 Malware is their downfall
3:50 Adblockers are inevitable
5:25 Which ad blocker should I use?
6:30 Where do we go from here?
7:30 Product sales and patronage

More Ask Leo!

#askleo #adblocker #advertising

[askleonotenboom]

Sadly, it might just be. And that means sites like Ask Leo! might die.

[Douglas_Blake_]

In the early 2000s I dumped all broadcast TV and Radio because I was sick of the advertising.
As soon as the first adblockers became available for my browser I added it in right away.
As soon as browser options allowed blocking 3rd party cookies, I killed them too.

Thus, I haven't seen an advertisement since about 2012.
AND... guess what ... I don't miss them one little bit.

One of life's harder lessons: "Any unregulated space will eventually fall to greed and abuse."

[davidkrause]

Leo, very much appreciate your honesty as both an internet user and a person that uses the internet to make their living. I enjoy your site and will become a Patron today.

[DavidM]

One of the worst offenders is Youtube. Some content providers now have their own embedded ads, which is ok. But, so often, once the embedded ad ends, the video is interrupted by the Youtube inserted ad. And then there are the ads with all of the motion. I can live with static ads but the ones that seem to jump around to grad the viewers attention are just too much. And the ad to content ratio is often way too lopsided.

[boblangill]

In broadcast tv days, there weren't any adblockers, but people often got up and left to do minor chores when ads started. The effective counter to this was ads that were entertaining or even useful.

One thing I don't hear is how randomly inserted ads can destroy the value of what's being watched. An ad that breaks in at 2:17 of a 6 minute music video is effective way to remove viewer enjoyment.

[MichaelBeeny]

The advertising is completely out of control. If a site had one advert that would be ok but some are just one big advert with a little content thrown in. It's getting the right balance.

[renoholland]

A few years back I checked out a software package and read the reviews that had been posted. One person gave it a big thumbs down and the reason was insane: because the software was not free. Granted, that review may have been exceptional but it tells you something about the thought process of many people. They expect content to be free and don't think even twice about the time, energy and cost that have been put into it in order to make it available. I bet most of these 'freeloaders' wouldn't consider doing work for free either. I agree with your notice that the presence of ads can be overwhelming and often just plain annoying, especially when you see the same ad over and over again. I remember a TV channel where it took over 3 hours to watch a 2 hour movie. It seemed that I was spending more time watching ads than the actual movie. As with so many things, the right balance is hard to find.

[frozenhouse]

it is not only the ads on YT, it's the heavy censoring too

[ballybunion]

The problem I have with the sites that ask me to turn off the ad-blocker: they ask nicely so I follow their instructions on how to turn off the blocker, and the site continues to tell me the ad-blocker is still turned on.

[bikeny]

Yes. I've been using them for years. If a site didn't bombard us with video nuisance ads then I'd be willing to suspend them on a particular site. About the only sites I suspend them is when I log on to my bank or credit card sites (or other similar sites). Those sites generally don't have the bombardment of ads others have. But for general browsing, I've got 4 blockers running.

[Douglas_Blake_]

FWIW ... If you are running an Ad Blocker and you get that stupid "terms of service" notice from YouTube ... just hit the refresh button on your browser, 9 of 10 times the video will then play normally.

I agee with Leo and I appreciate his point ... but compiling pseudo life histories by tracking my internet adventures is clearly an abuse of my privacy.

[markanderson]

I get it and I do not blame you. The unfortunate truth is advertising has crept into everything and everywhere and yes it is quite annoying.

Where there is money to be made it will be made, sadly even on some with unfortunate circumstances or events or even knowledge. We are all subjugated to it and not much of choice or at the very least limited. It's just the reality of things today.

Respectfully,
Thank you for your honesty!

[shadowminister]

I'm fine with a "reasonable" amount of ads, but when I get blasted with ads, I get annoyed.
On Chrome I get so many ads, it's ridiculous. On Firefox, I hardly get ads and I'm finding I'm Firefox more often.
As for YouTube, I find it objectionable that they are pushing more and more ads, but then offer a solution to their forced ads if you pay for Premium.

My son also has a YouTube Channel and this policy of Google impacts him too. It is concerning that companies like Google forget who is creating the content into which they sell their ads.

[Gone_away.]

The way you describe it, it's awesome. Love the way you get things clear...

[lemoncrinckles]

As long as ad blockers are available I will use them. And I will tell others how to use them. You Tube should never be your primary source of income as they can shut you down at their pleasure.

[acreguy]

Great commentary, Leo. Aristotle said it best, "Nothing in excess." The internet has become a free for all of advertisers. They have shot themselves in the foot and actually reduced their effectiveness. It's like using a bold font for 75% of a report to emphasize content. Using that much bolding reduces its effectiveness. The solution is to reword and restructure the report so a small number of keywords are in bold font. Then, you have the attention of your readers.

[catchaser]

Hey LEO, when will we get ad block for NFL games ? Its Outrageous !!

[stevejohnson]

Another approach is extension "stop HTML5 autoplay." That way the ads will still queue, but you decide whether they get put in motion. Maybe I want to see an ad about energizer bunny, but I'm never going to buy from wix.

[franzgucktyoutube]

I really appreciate your honesty, best of luck to you, I love your channel!

[tobytwirl]

Thank you Leo...I honestly believe, that amount of advertising has gone beyond all understanding! For me, 'ads' that interrupt viewing pleasure is now out of control! One evening, I decided to view a documentary with reference to the Holocaust featuring the late Anne Frank...You guessed it...ADVERTISING of which had NO relevance whatsoever! I got myself SO irritated, that I 'gave up' on the program and listened to my radio instead. Nowadays, EVERY time an unwanted and unsolicited promo comes on, I completely IGNORE it...Hitting the mute button and looking elsewhere in the room to avoid it. In my humble opinion...They are now DESTROYING an excellent output. Believe me Leo, anytime soon...I will completely dissolve my relationship with YouTube and DELETE the app, and then return to my VAST dvd and music library, why not, I survived this for all of my life, I'm sure that I can continue living! Thank you once more Leo, and keep up the good work...