Ads Are Not All Bad - Just Watch How They Are Used

This article provides us with an advertiser’s perspective as to how it affects them in their eyes when people use add-ons such as AdBlock Plus. But what Mr. Smith does not seem to realize is the big reason why AdBlock Plus is so popular is due to abuses in advertising.

AdSense, text ads and even non-intrusive advertising is fine by me. If this is content I am getting for free and am enjoying, dealing with ads is reasonable to me. But where I think most people draw the line is with those select Flash based ads that send your CPU into a tail spin. For me it’s rare, but it can happen with any Web site without warning. But in the end, it also means I will not likely be returning to that Web site in the future.

That is how I deal with advertising I find intrusive, distracting, or just browser crash-happy. I will not return to the Web site in question, using their bandwidth and giving credit to their content provided. Why not simply use tools like AdBlock Plus? Because as someone who makes his living from services/Web sites that make part of their money from legitimate advertising, I find AdBlock Plus offensive. So rather than spend an article harping on it, I choose not to use it.

People who feel that stuff on the Internet should be free, but also ad free, need to put the water pipe down, eject themselves from whatever school they are attending, and join the rest of the world. We are in an economic crisis. And despite what you might think about the ads presented on a page, I would point out the following. If you find ads on a Web page annoying — then stop reading the content. It’s just that simple. You, the reader of the various Web sites out there, are in the driver’s seat. And so long as Web sites continue to abide by a strong privacy policy and avoid subjecting you to ads that cause your browser to crash, you need to respect that you are reading content that was created due to someone’s job.

On the flip side, however, Mr. Smith from the article linked above needs to realize that their side of the fence had also better wise up. Content is freely available these days. So while ads are likely to appear on just about everything these days, it is critical to make sure any ads presented are non-intrusive or creating issues with the enjoyment of said content. If services like DoubleClick cannot understand that, then they will find themselves in real trouble when readers go elsewhere to find content providers that can ensure a pleasant reading experience. I think most people can see things from that perspective, but we all must meet in the middle someplace. And blocking ads to continue reading content is NOT the answer. It’s fun for a while, but these days, it will not fly for long economically.

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