> Both of these are undeniably true about specific ads, but surely not the genre of advertising in general? I think that magazine ads, for example, are neither infection vectors nor privacy leaks.
We're obviously not talking about magazine ads, and an infection vector doesn't necessarily carry an infection (just like not all flies carry disease).
> I _think_ that, even among those of us who would like a web with no ads, the position that there is no level of advertising that's acceptable is extreme.
There are some people who block all javascript. That's far beyond "no level of advertising".
> Nonetheless, since some people do use it, surely this divestiture from a conflict of interest is a good thing, even if it's not perfect.
ABP has always sought revenue. Every time I installed it back in the day, a web page with the author and his significant other would pop up saying something like "I want to marry my fiance, please give us money!". Later ABP turned into a bait and switch. They gathered a lot of people who thought were protecting themselves, reducing load times and cleaning up the web, and then they violated their user's trust by making them targets for the highest bidder. I find that infuriating and disgusting.
We're obviously not talking about magazine ads, and an infection vector doesn't necessarily carry an infection (just like not all flies carry disease).
> I _think_ that, even among those of us who would like a web with no ads, the position that there is no level of advertising that's acceptable is extreme.
There are some people who block all javascript. That's far beyond "no level of advertising".
> Nonetheless, since some people do use it, surely this divestiture from a conflict of interest is a good thing, even if it's not perfect.
ABP has always sought revenue. Every time I installed it back in the day, a web page with the author and his significant other would pop up saying something like "I want to marry my fiance, please give us money!". Later ABP turned into a bait and switch. They gathered a lot of people who thought were protecting themselves, reducing load times and cleaning up the web, and then they violated their user's trust by making them targets for the highest bidder. I find that infuriating and disgusting.