Adblockers killing websites

Umh, but who can control which content is “old” and which one is “new”?

I think if the old model of less obtrusive advertising (less than 25% of the page, no fly ins, no popups, etc) returned, most people would get rid of their ad blockers. Those on limited bandwidth plans (mobile, etc) would probably still use them, but most people wouldn’t bother.

I know I just started using mine in the past couple months when all the intrusive ads just became overwhelming…

That would be an arbitrary cut-off date determined by the site owner.
For example. every topic here has a “last post date”.as well as a “last seen date”
So if SitePoint were to decide that any topics that hadn’t recieved any attention in say, 2 years, it could be coded in to not show ads.

I’m not so sure that irreparable damage hasn’t been done. But maybe over time things could reverse.

Unfortunately, it seems the general response is not to adapt to change, but to double-down on a losing hand.

Take pop-ups opening new windows. One once and a while could be tolerated and over-looked.
Once they became near ubiquitous and abused (some even opened countless new windows to the point of crashing the browser) steps were taken to end them so now many modern browsers have a “block pop-ups” setting.

So now we have similar happening with “non-pop-up” modals and slide-ins.

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Or the pop-ups occur EVERY page, or are nearly impossible to close on mobile (even larger iPads)

Maybe OT, but not completely I think, I also hate sites that as soon as I enter, cover the content with a page wide “ad” saying: “if you like our site please register for…”. How the heck would I know if I like it, I just came in and haven’t seen a thing yet! :confused:

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A startup recipe site does this, then they even sent me emails later on requesting feedback. It actually has some good recipes, great layout, and I’d really like the way the site looks and functions… but this was really annoying. They sent several from real accounts (I think?) so there were no unsubscribe buttons.

I understand the startup needs users and needs feedback and needs whatever else because they are a startup, but I mean… I just want to see a good recipe. I don’t want to be apart of your community. I don’t want to contribute. I don’t want to sign up for your newsletter. I don’t want to be reminded that you exist. I just want to look at the content you’re trying to provide. Not only did they completely destroy any hope of me telling anyone else about the site, but they made me avoid them completely.

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taking this back to the original question/title ‘Adblockers killing websites’ (not sure if it’s a statement or question) for a moment. Seeing as there are well over a billion websites (2014 saw 1 billion) and still growing if the above is a question then the answer is in general no adblockers are not killing websites or we would see a decline in websites.

Whether adblockers are losing certain people revenue they thought they should deserve is another matter.

It seems to me everybody and their dog thinks they should set up a website and stick a load of adverts on it and get rich. A lot of these people i am guessing will just sign up for whichever ad provider says will give them the most money (i know i would) and perhaps don’t have a lot of thought as to what is being displayed.

There are a lot of good information websites out there that have taken people time to write etc but equally (actually a whole lot more) poor websites that don’t have correct information and it is impossible to know which is which until you visit them, by which time you have a screen full of adverts you have to fight to leave the page.

Perhaps the answer is to have less websites overall with better information and more sensible adverts that don’t invade your privacy/take over your computer etc but i don’t see that is likely to happen

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Lots of revenue is getting lost, but that’s the same in every industry. Owners monetize, consumers seek an increasingly convenient and comfortable buying situation, and we loose a little bit of the intrusive advertising. The thing is, depending upon your target visitor, it’s a pretty specific demographic using AdBlockers, a tech savvy one.

I think it’s up to website owners to get creative for income, this might come in the form of subscriptions, donations, unlocking content, etc.

Why is it that no one knows how to spell LOSE any more?

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Because we’re used to loose to the point that lose has loost its meaning :wink:

Or because typos, they happen.

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That’s why you should check for typos yourself before posting.

Two many people really on spill checkers too pick up they’re spelling mistakes.

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Could you look at the request/response data from your server logs to see if the add was blocked?

My friend, take a break from the computer. Lots of keys, 10 fingers, easily to make a mistake, and in the same context, there’s a good chance a person hasn’t received the same education as you. Please be nice, everyone has a different literary background.

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You do? I don’t. Why would people get rid of their adblocker once they’ve learned about them and successfully employed one? Ads are annoying no matter what, to most people, and to most people (non dev related) they’re not worrying about the site they’re visiting having income issues due to it…

You might, or I might. But the general population of the Internet? Doubt it. But maybe I’m too pessimistic :smiley:


Not sure why we’re talking about typos, but

  1. People should check their writing for typos
  2. Typos will still happen because people make mistakes
  3. …The end?? Hopefully??
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Looks like it doesn’t matter anyways. The advertisers have won the war :wink:

http://www.sitepoint.com/advertisers-win-the-ad-blocking-war/

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That’s a great article, @DaveMaxwell. Thanks for the link.

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Yeah, getting more obtrusive and more violent lives in the minds of some as “the way to go”. Not surprisingly, though a bit early, they claim “victory” in their “war” against …just … about the majority of users.

Well, this is much more interesting:

I don’t know… if every other major browser is now fighting against the nonsense: I wonder in which way those “advertisers” (those, not all) have “won the war” against pretty much everybody else. That’s very, very curious. Could it be that the verb is not “to win” but rather “to fool” ? That’d make more sense.

Oh, I think I know: perhaps they are already building their own damn browser? Aaah! that must be it. I’d suggest better yet: why not build their own Internet and get their own exclusive idiots? Yeah, they should, because when there are no fools to fool, the “foolers” lose.

There’s a fight for fools, though no shortage of.

That new victorious browser, called “WatchMeOrElse!” (why not “WatchMeOrDie”?) should be a paid-for browser. What a genius idea! why nobody else had it before?. Paid by those who couldn’t live without being harassed and disturbed by unsolicited online crap. It should include a device that twist the user’s arm while reminding him every few minutes that he must not turn his head or close his eyes to any of the marvellous …messages, or else… In fact: it should not have any contents at all, whatsoever. What the heck. I know some countries and some self-proclaimed “state” where such ideals are indeed considered winners of all winners.

Mhh… If they could just get rid of those “uncomfortable” ones that manage to make excellent Internet without dictatorial, coercive ideologies (like this very site that we are all enjoying and contributing with). That’s a bummer.

Brilliant idea! more violence and coercion is definitely the way to go, for those “WatchMeOrElse!” minds. So, Idiots of the world: behold the new Masters that will punish your not-watching-all-ads sins. Behave!

For the rest of us, who don’t appreciate coercive/punitive and “Fear Me” kind of spirits, there’s a huge, much better Internet and World out there.

(oh, and there is also a button to close the tab of any bulling site)

The CodingForums forums have recently started to show more obtrusive ads.

I was starting to think about whether to continue visiting the forums there or not (I figure that not visiting sites with ads that are too obtrusive is a far better solution than using an ad blocker) when they made the decision for me. In the last few days that forum has been actively blocking the IP addresses of their most frequent posters and my access from one computer got blocked last Thursday and from the second on Sunday so now I can’t even access their forums if I want to.

I guess that was the second stage of their process to drive people away.

  1. Introduce obtrusive ads to drive some people away.
  2. Block the most active people on the forum from being to access it so as to minimize the chances of posts geting answerd.

I suppose 3 will be to shut the site down completely because it isn’t making any money because no one visits.

What do you think of this new “Brave” browser?
It blocks your ads, then replaces them with its own ads.

A browser that blocks ads!

Great!

Replaces with its’ own ads

…What? Does it block their own ads? :stuck_out_tongue: Sounds stupid and for money grabbing.

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