Herself’s Webtools

What would we do for fun with out fanatics in the world? This guy blocks Firefox users from visiting his website on the grounds that Firefox users can block ads, thereby depriving him of revenue. It’s the most interesting page on his site and the one that receives the most hits since it has been Slashdotted. It created a heated discussion on Slashdot that keeps flaring back up, The morality of web advertising blocking. This discussion has also come up in other areas such as TV and TIVO and is not likely to go away.

I’m of the old school. When I first came across the internet in 1995 it was a place to share information and TimesToCome has been doing that since 1997, though now it is split across seven websites and domains. The internet was a place to connect with other like minded souls, and to gather information, it was and is the world’s encyclopedia.

Times changed. Commercial interests moved into the web and where would we be with out Google? Google Maps? AOL AIM? The various news organizations? Some of the commercial growth has been good for us all and for the internet. Other things such as spam and pop up ads have not been so good and so we developed tools to block those things.

I’m a big fan of ad blocking software, I use it myself. I can’t stand all the animations. I find them too distracting when I’m trying to work. Today I had Safari open while I was working on some templates and it asked me if I wanted a free iPhone? Who can work with interruptions like that? Is it stealing from corporations to advertise and distract workers who are trying to do research or other work online?

If I forced ads on more readers would ad revenue increase? That is likely. Many who ad block claim that they themselves wouldn’t click on ads anyhow. I don’t think that is true. The reason the ad companies make more invasive ads is because they do work and people do click on them more often. But it is also likely those same people would not visit my site a second time.

So are you stealing revenue from a website if you block ads? Or is it your right not to be advertised to? Freedom of speech laws protect those annoying door to door sales people and telemarketers. But those same protected telemarketers are dropping like flies in a world where phones don’t ring for numbers not in their contact list. Properly done, advertising benefits all parties. Improperly done it will kill your business. Remember Bonsai Buddy anyone?

Is it your right to not see advertising or is it the advertisers right to show you his ad? That is still to be worked out. For myself, I’ll let my visitors decide for themselves. Are you visiting the web for paid content or non-paid content? Is the content you are viewing worth paying for beyond your internet provider’s fee?

Firefox ad-blocker extension causes agnst
What happens when the advertisements are wiped clean from a website?
Firefox User Agent Switcher