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posted by janrinok on Thursday September 17 2015, @08:42AM   Printer-friendly
from the no-way,-jose dept.

... or so some web pages are now saying according to an article published by El Reg:

The Jeff Bezos-owned Washington Post has become the largest newspaper to refuse to serve readers who filter out advertisments.

The Post described it as "a short test" to gauge what users who use blocked blockers will do next. "Often, we run tests like this not in reaction to a problem, but to learn," said the paper in a statement.

Last week, Google also began to nuke the filters used to block preroll ads on its YouTube service. For extra punishment, YouTube viewers using AdBlock Plus had to sit through the full ad, by disabling the 'Skip Ad' button.

Around one in seven surfers use ad-blocking software, although the proportion rises when the demographic mix skews towards middle class and wealthy, and young and male, according to the latest annual PageFair report... into ad filters.

There is a reason why people use ad blockers. Sometimes it's for purposes of sanity, to avoid the very annoying auto-playing ads that more and more web sites now host. Others block them for security purposes, limiting one's exposure to the nastiness that can sometimes come from unscrupulous advertisers. Still others block them to reduce the draw on their precious bandwidth, especially those who get throttled if they use their monthly limit. Perhaps the Washington Post should be more careful with who they sell advertising to and more strictly limit the format of the adverts their sponsors pay them to publish instead of punishing those who block all of them.


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  • (Score: 1) by Pino P on Friday September 18 2015, @05:00AM

    by Pino P (4721) on Friday September 18 2015, @05:00AM (#237822) Journal

    "If I really feel the need to read anything in Nature or other gated journals, I go use free wifi at the county library, or the local university library."

    That's not so easy if by the time you get there, the library would have closed for the night or for the weekend. Several county and university libraries and public transportation systems keep hours that don't mesh well with using the library after work.

  • (Score: 2) by captain normal on Sunday September 20 2015, @05:12AM

    by captain normal (2205) on Sunday September 20 2015, @05:12AM (#238711)

    Myself, I like to sleep most of the night. Actually, so do most people.

    --
    When life isn't going right, go left.
    • (Score: 1) by Pino P on Sunday September 20 2015, @01:07PM

      by Pino P (4721) on Sunday September 20 2015, @01:07PM (#238815) Journal

      Even if you sleep through the night, you probably don't go to bed anytime near 6 PM, and you probably are awake at least some time on Saturday and Sunday.