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Originally Posted by pmgibson
But I have a question is about the stealing comment. If I choose not to view an ad, I don't consider that stealing from the business. If we start to think of choosing not to view an ad as stealing from the business, then it seems that the next step is going to be to require us to watch ads whenever and wherever a business chooses to display them.
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Glad you asked. I ought to elaborate on this. There's a difference between allowing an ad to display and ignoring it, and allowing an ad to display and actually being forced to read/watch it. I don't think businesses should ever make consumers do the latter - that's severely limiting freedom of choice.
Quote:
Originally Posted by pmgibson
Or is the comment directed toward those who provide adblocking software? I still don't consider this stealing. The makers of software are not forcing anyone to use it and I don't know of any that is out there blocking advertising in mass rather than being run on individual PC's and PPC's by user choice.
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The comment is not directed toward those who provide the software. It's directed more toward those who use the software knowing full well that blocking ads eats into a site's revenue. And I've tacked that point on to the end because I know there are users out there who aren't fully aware of the impacts that ad-blocking software may have on the lives of other people, so it's unfair to blame them for wanting to block ads for personal reasons.
But I know of people who do have that knowledge and do use ad-blocking software on ad-supported sites and services. They enjoy the benefits of these sites and services, but choose to block ads because of their general dislike of visual clutter. They're taking something from the providers and giving nothing in return.
Quote:
Originally Posted by pmgibson
If the advertisers become more selective in ad placement, then maybe individuals will become more tolerant of ads in places where they make sense -- when we don't have them all over everything we try to view.
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Agreed. I made a similar point toward the end of my original post. Mobile displays are small enough as it is, so the issue of ad sizing and placement is something we need to pay particular attention to.