Asklemmy

I use AdBlock, PiHole, and several tracking protections because I'm fucking tired of being treated like a product by bigtech. I also have various websites blocked on the DNS level, using only privacy-respecting frontends (youtube, reddit, twitter)

Adblock and Sponsorblock. Also Enhancer for Youtube that hides those pesky YT Shorts.

Why? Fuck ads, that's why.

Absolutely. Ublock origin which also blocks YouTube ads and running a pihole for my home network for the rest of the devices.

yes of course i use adblock it is like the condom of internet at this point.

the money that the creators earn from ads per user is such a low amount that my time and attention are not worth it, like for youtube we are talking $0.001-0.002 per video view for an average creator. it is beneficial for both parties if you simply donate and use adblock.

i also find the data hoarding personalised ad model predatory and privacy invasive

Wow, there are a lot of comments describing how neccessary it must be to use adblock. I don't think I can actually change anyone's mind here, but I'm going to share my perspective anyway:

While I don't agree with the statement quoted in the original post, I do think that ads are neccessary for most websites I visit to function. Not because of the content creators, but because of the companies running the platforms.

I know, ads can be problematic. But to outright block all ads is no solution. Privacy and data protection are very important to me, so I'm against every form of targeted ads. But just generic or maybe contextual ads? I don't see any harm in that. Malware is mentioned often in other comments. I disable JavaScript whenever I can. That's absolutely enough for blocking all ads to not make any real difference in terms of security. Although I have to admit that blocking scripts also blocks some ads.

But still, I see all ads on YouTube and search engines for example. And I'm happy to see them. It's incredible that such platforms, providing so many people with access to so much content from so many other people can actually exist. There are a lot of resources needed for this.

And if I still don't want to see ads simply because I don't want to? Then I don't have to, even without any adblockers. If I don't think a website is worth the ads it thinks it needs to show me, then I don't have to use it. I can just leave. If it is easy to provide the same service without ads then there must be countless alternatives already.

I use ad-blockers because I'm not a masochist. 🤨

I use unlock origin because it blocks ads and other annoying web features like cookies and newsletters popins.

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.

If I really like a creator, I’ll donate to them. Ads are an intrusion on privacy, and everybody has the right to block them without moral backlash.

I do, and I don't care if creators and companies that are already rich aren't getting 50 cents more.

I use adblock wherever I can as ads have only become more annoying and intrusive over time. It's incredibly frustrating going to a site and having three banner ads covering 60% of the screen, or seeing an unskippable ad interrupt a YouTube video every 90 seconds. It's wasted time I will never get back, and it feels like theft of my life. I wish I could have adblock everywhere outside of the internet.

i block a lot of the excessive tracking, but not all ads specifically. i think its better to not go to the site at all and find a competitor that does not have as many ads. going to the site whenwhen you have that bad of an issue with it sends a bad signal to the people running the site.

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.

I use ublock origin: https://ublockorigin.com/

The internet is unusable without a good adblock.

Sometimes I see how some friends and relatives browse the web. From googling a recipe to watching hours of youtube videos. Shockingly, they spend like 10% of the time staring at advertisments, waiting for them to pass by. Sometimes, when they are close friends, I "confront" them about it and 90% of the time their answer is "I didn't even know you can block them". Not once have I heard "I do it to generate money the creators and or websites".

My girlfriend used to show me youtube videos on her phone and she used a "trick" where you report the unskippable ads or whatver and then you get through them quicker. Having to wait for HER ads to pass started to annoy me so much that I upgraded my YouTube subscription to family. Now her and her siblings get to enjoy ad-free YouTube content.

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.

Well if the content creator cared about the consumer they wouldnt make it impossible to enjoy thier site without adblock. plenty of community run sites have ads that arent annoying and im happy to allowlist em

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.

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.

Ive used AdBlock for about 15+ years, at first because YouTube was getting a little overboard with their ads. Now I've kinda became a privacy nut and still use stuff like UBlock Origin but more for stopping weird trackers and cookies that invade my privacy and sell my data

Yes, I do. And I do since I don't want to watch ads and being interrupted with the video. I also have a sponsorblock extention. I use those since ads are always the same. I know what NordVPN is and I won't sign up for that thing. Also, ad revenue on YouTube is near zero for creators but fir YouTuve itself I imagine it's pretty huge. So I'm bit damaging my creators. If I want to support them, I'd rather sign up for Patreon.

I use AdBlock because I don't want to sacrifice 70% of my viewport to obxonious and intrusive targetted ads. I never click on ads anyway.

As Louis Rossmann said, supporting a creator directly via patreon Kofi or other means has way more impact than watching ads.

I use ublock origin on desktop. For YouTube I love Sponsorblock and started to use dearrow to remove gaping mouth thumbnails and modify click bait thumbnails.

On mobile I do not usually have an ad blocker set up so I just don't browse the Internet much at all from it. I do always use some kind of ad blocking YouTube player though. I really love sponsorblock.

I most certainly feel fine about it.

Especially since most of what I want to see is by people passionately showing off their hobby. When nobody tried to get paid for content I found I enjoyed it more. Nowadays I costume less and less content.

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

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

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.

Neurological warfare with a side of malware? Where do I sign up

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).