
Data from hundreds of sites shows 23% usage of adblock - seanblanchfield
http://www.forbes.com/sites/kashmirhill/2013/08/21/use-of-ad-blocking-is-on-the-rise/
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drill_sarge
-flash-ads -animated ads -ads with sound -tracking through ads -ad networks often get hacked -more ads than content on a page -ads overlay content -wasting data volume on 3G mobile connection -wasting battery on phone thanks to ads

Just a couple of reasons why I am using adblocker on most sites. Until all
those "advertising networks/providers" don't learn (they didn't in the last 10
years), my behavior will not change.

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DoritosMan
If I didn't have to worry about malicious ads, pop up advertisements, video
ads that automatically play, and obnoxious ads then I probably wouldn't use
AdBlock. But since advertisements are nothing but obnoxious then it makes it
hard for me to change my mind...

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mcdonnellb
Yeah, some advertisers actually hurt their own industry with really pushy ads.
How mild would the ads need to be for you to be happy to turn off your
adblocker? Would you tolerate any ads, even from your favourite site?

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etioyuahgdhjdkg
I don't understand why having the right to choose what to display on my screen
is so hard to understand for these people.

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seanblanchfield
From the publisher's point of view, ads are the only realistic way that they
can pay for the expense of running their websites. The alternatives are
paywalls, which don't work, or shutting down (which a bunch of sites that were
using over the last year ended up doing!).

Anyway, most people install adblock because of really crappy ads that get in
your face. Do you have a real problem with static image banners that don't get
in the way of content?

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AndrewDucker
If Adblock had a "text ads are fine" setting then I'd happily turn it on (I do
leave the default setting to allow some ads on).

I don't mind supporting sites - but I cannot deal with flashing, moving, or
overlaying ads. They drive me crazy.

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DanBC
Why do you support the site with page views? Why don't you move away from
sites that use bad adverts?

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Terretta
Because _I don 't know_ that they have bad adverts. I've never seen them.

I'm occasionally shocked when trying to browse something from a public
computer or at an in-law's house: "People actually use the web like this???"

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Steffen012345
That means people like you are the reason why nothing changes. If you would
completely ignore bad websites instead of "tuning" them with your adblocker
other websites with unobtrusive advertisements would survive.

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mcdonnellb
PageFair's blog post & full report are here:
[http://blog.pagefair.com/2013/the-rise-of-
adblocking/](http://blog.pagefair.com/2013/the-rise-of-adblocking/)

Some site categories were hit much harder than 23%.

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seanblanchfield
What we found most surprising was the growth rate - 43%. If this keeps up all
ads will be blocked by 2018! Of course, this won't happen. But it looks like
things are set to get a lot worse for publishers before they get better.

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ciferkey
xkcd.com/605/

In all seriousness that is a staggering growth rate. Though I don't see the
majority of the population moving the AB. It would be interesting if you could
objectively gauge what kind of users are prone to using tools like AB and then
see how close we are to saturating that portion of the user base.

~~~
thatswrong0
Tricky link you've got there. Hidden character at the end.

Try copying and pasting this: xkcd.com/605/‎ vs. xkcd.com/605/

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BuckoA51
My site gets around 1500 views a day, I may have to close due to ad-blocking.
bigger sites can take the hit, but I can't, if I can't make money writing my
site, I'll have to take the advice I so often hear from Adblock advocates and
"diversify my business", by going to flip burgers at the local fast food
joint. I don't see how that makes the web a better place like the ad-block
advocates claim.

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mesozoic
The funny thing about adblock is I first got it because of the extremely
annoying ads Twitch.tv will run. Now the twitch streamers suffer because so
many of their viewers have adblock but it's ultimately because Twitch runs
some of the most annoying ads on the internet. I've browsed them recently
without adblock and they have even more annoying ads today.

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programminggeek
Um, this doesn't impact online advertising because the people who are likely
to click on ads are NOT the people who use adblock.

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overdude
You're unfortunately incorrect. Many, many publishers rely on on a CPM based
ad payment model rather than CPC, such that the site is paid based on the
number of ad impressions seen, not clicked. Clicks have little/no impact on
CPM.

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zharko
Well, Google is good reference how unobtrusive and useful ads can be actually
even desired by an average user. Of course Google now looks much more like
Microsoft than it did 5 years ago when the "dont be evil" mantra sill made
sense. With the ads from Google I can still live... although it is becoming a
borderline case

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molbon
This is quite surprising. I'd never expect to be that high.

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ROFISH
From the public? Maybe. However, some more tech-savvy sites are hit even
harder. Apparently 50% of the readers of gaming site Destructoid use
Adblock[1].

[1] [http://www.destructoid.com/half-of-destructoid-s-readers-
blo...](http://www.destructoid.com/half-of-destructoid-s-readers-block-our-
ads-now-what--247904.phtml)

~~~
seanblanchfield
Some sites we're working with have over 60% of their audience blocking ads!
Tends to be the gaming sites in particular.

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someadsblocked
Adblock makes back room deals with corporations and publishers to allow some
ads through. Obviously GMail ads are still shown, but keep an eye out, you
will notice others.

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drill_sarge
This is a false assumption by a german blogger (I forgot exactly which blog it
was). It was mind boggling how many flaws where in his posts. Also you can
turn off acceptable ads or just use Adblock Edge fork.

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Steffen012345
It was mobilegeeks.de and the assumptions are confirmed facts. And if you
really think you can turn off "acceptable ads" then i have to tell you that
Adblock Plus changes your settings with the next update.

