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posted by janrinok on Monday March 24 2014, @09:44PM   Printer-friendly
from the ads?-what-ads? dept.

An anonymous coward writes:

"Three weeks ago, video game reviewer and online columnist Jim Sterling used his weekly "Jimquisition" video column (warning: NSFW) at The Escapist to address 'the ever thorny issue' of viewers using ad-blockers while watching his content.

As Mr Sterling relies entirely on ads on The Escapist and his YouTube channel for his income and isn't exactly known for pulling punches regardless of topic, it may have come as a surprise to many that he expressed considerable understanding for those who choose to block ads [transcribed and slightly censored by the submitter]:

"No, I don't like it when someone views my work with Adblock, but I get it. I absolutely understand it, and I find it hard to judge anybody who does it. If I'm p---ed off at anyone, it's the advertisers; those reckless buffoons who brought up intrusive pop-ups, auto-playing video ads, and those f---ing banners with the smileys that scream "SAY SOMETHING" at you.

'There is this horrible cycle in place, if you didn't know, where the less ads that get viewed, the worse the ads are, because the less scrupulous commercial companies will go after the more desperate venues. What this means is, the more you ad-block, the worse the ads actually get.'

After asking his viewers to 'kindly consider' viewing his videos with Adblock disabled (and expressing some considerable distaste for those who publicly state that they block the ads and still insists on criticising his work), Sterling willingly conceded that ads on web sites can represent a real problem for users:

'When ads break web sites, when they ruin your browsing or are offensive to you on some level, how the hell can I blame you for wanting to obliterate them? I can't!'

Whether one likes Mr Sterling's videos or not, he no doubt has a point. Ads are the only available source of revenue for many web sites and content producers, but they have little or no influence over the kind of ads the ad provider serves through their site. As we all know, intrusive ads can significantly degrade the browsing experience and even be a malware vector. Besides asking their users to please endure potentially obnoxious ads, are there ways for web sites (like, say, SoylentNews) and content producers to make money from advertisements?

The story ends with an interesting twist: For those who wanted to support him but just couldn't stomach the ads, Sterling briefly published the URL to an Amazon wishlist as well as his P.O. box address at the end of the video. Last week he revealed that although he had done so in jest, several viewers had indeed sent him gifts (from 7:02 onwards)."

 
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  • (Score: 5, Interesting) by rts008 on Monday March 24 2014, @10:07PM

    by rts008 (3001) on Monday March 24 2014, @10:07PM (#20597)

    When something unpleasant is forced on me, I resist. Try to shove something down my throat, and I will fight back.

    I don't think I'm too different in that from most others.

    Back when there was only 3-4 commercial breaks during an hour program, I was annoyed, but basically okay with this.
    When it got to the point of every 5-6 minutes, and at least one-third of the hour was advert.'s, I threw in the towel and quit watching TV.

    As long as there is something like Adblock and NoScript/Flashblock, etc., I will stay online. When this is no longer possible, I will give it up like I did TV.

    There are too many good books out there that I have not had a chance to read yet anyway. :-)

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  • (Score: 1) by Mr_Flibble on Tuesday March 25 2014, @05:57AM

    by Mr_Flibble (286) on Tuesday March 25 2014, @05:57AM (#20825)

    I don't use ad block, yet however I do use my memory, if a site as to many ads that keep resizing my screen as they load I never go back.
    I believe this attitude has lost a few 'friends' on facebook after some stupid campaign I followed a link to resulted in a tirade of abuse from me about linking to websites that have over %80 of the content as adds.

    --
    Just because I suffer from paranoia doesn't mean people aren't out to get me.