I’m always surprised when smart people, especially those working in ad supported industries, advocate the use of ad blockers. When new folks join the Outbrain team, I ask them during their on-boarding how many of them use ad blockers. About 50% of people say they do, and are quite casual about it.
Then I ask them how many of them steal books at Barnes & Noble, and the response is usually a bunch of horrified faces at the mere suggestion. I’m not sure why. Both are very similar forms of stealing content without paying the content owner.
The idea that ad blockers are OK to use because ads are annoying or interruptive, is absolutely ridiculous. The ads aren’t some optional thing you choose to turn on or off – the ads are how you pay for the content you consume and enjoy.
The ads might be annoying, but so is the cashier at your bookstore. But you probably never told yourself: “I want these books and magazines, but that payment part is really annoying… It’s an interruption in my day to stand in line and take out my credit card. And the paying piece – that is really annoying! So I’ll just take all the books I wanted and walk out the store without the annoying part!”.
The form of payment for the content is determined by the seller, not the consumer. Barnes & Noble might set the price in dollars. A publisher might set the price in the form of advertising. If you don’t like the form of payment, or the price, the only recourse is to not consume that content.