Following on from the "See what Google knows about you" (http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2840916) thread, many HN'ers wrote that they don't really care what ads are targeted to them because they run AdBlock anyway.
So here it is - do you run AdBlock/some other mechanism that scrubs adverts from your browser?
Given the controversial nature of this practice and it's impact on the websites that rely on the advertising, I'm also curious if you work for a startup/company that relies on advertising for some or all of it's revenue.
I still consume though, buy goods and services, of course. And I'm not cheap about anything. But I try to do so on a cost-benefit-evaluation basis. When the impulse to buy comes (say, the new iPad that I see everywhere), I discipline myself to delay the purchase. After a while I often realize that I don't need or want it. Instead I might buy some activity like a small trip somewhere, or getting a massage or going to a health club.
Anyway, the best advertising imo is a good product my friends or people I respect will talk about and/or show me.
And in a way I hope most people don't ad-block, so that these models stay profitable. Otherwise advertisers will get even more aggressive and Captain Kirk will use a Windows Phone, smoke cigarettes and drink Coca Cola in his new BMW in the next Star Trek sequel all the time. That would be disappointing.
Finally, if anyone invents glasses that also filter out display ads on the streets, I'd buy a pair. Then I'd walk around undistracted, perhaps thinking something worthwhile. For example what the economy, and the world as a whole, would be like, if everyone had those glasses.