My people, do you think ad-blockers are immoral?

[UltimusXI]

I have never used an ad blocker in my life and I really don't see the need to. Apparently my internet experience should be terrible and my devices must now be infected with dozens if not hundreds of malware apps or scripts if I were to believe some of the people here. Maybe they are, but I just didn't notice, and all of my devices haven't been reinstalled ever since first use.

Instead, everything's perfectly fine. Sure soms pages probably load faster without ads, but I don't notice any wait time.

If a site uses too many or very intrusive ads, I just stop using the site and find an alternative. Simple. It barely happens to me though, not sure what kinds of websites everyone regularly visits that are unbearable without an ad blocker.

If someone asks me to check a link on a questionable or unknown website, I open it in incognito.

 

[Rendering...]

I have never used an ad blocker in my life and I really don't see the need to. Apparently my internet experience should be terrible and my devices must now be infected with dozens if not hundreds of malware apps or scripts if I were to believe some of the people here. Maybe they are, but I just didn't notice, and all of my devices haven't been reinstalled ever since first use.

Instead, everything's perfectly fine. Sure soms pages probably load faster without ads, but I don't notice any wait time.

If a site uses too many or very intrusive ads, I just stop using the site and find an alternative. Simple. It barely happens to me though, not sure what kinds of websites everyone regularly visits that are unbearable without an ad blocker.

Click to shrink...

You must have the most boring browsing history ever.

 

[SgtCobra]

The poll results

 

[thesoapster]

Vosotros? Jeez...

I use them on many sites, but disable where appropriate. I wish they could go even further, but I don't think there's a way to intelligently separate useful modals from spam-like ones.

 

[NewDust]

Ads are immoral.

 

[Deleted member 2809]

no i love viruses

 

[Tygre]

I have never used an ad blocker in my life and I really don't see the need to. Apparently my internet experience should be terrible and my devices must now be infected with dozens if not hundreds of malware apps or scripts if I were to believe some of the people here. Maybe they are, but I just didn't notice, and all of my devices haven't been reinstalled ever since first use.

Instead, everything's perfectly fine. Sure soms pages probably load faster without ads, but I don't notice any wait time.

If a site uses too many or very intrusive ads, I just stop using the site and find an alternative. Simple. It barely happens to me though, not sure what kinds of websites everyone regularly visits that are unbearable without an ad blocker.

If someone asks me to check a link on a questionable or unknown website, I open it in incognito.

Click to shrink...

Mentioning Incognito means you're probably using Chrome.

Chrome by default blocks pop-ups and ads.

So you should go to chrome://settings/content/popups and chrome://settings/content/ads and turn those settings off, then let us know how your internet experience is.

 

[UltimusXI]

Mentioning Incognito means you're probably using Chrome.

Chrome by default blocks pop-ups and ads.

So you should go to chrome://settings/content/popups and chrome://settings/content/ads and turn those settings off, then let us know how your internet experience is.

Click to shrink...

Popups are definitely blocked, but ad blocking is set to the 'block pushy and intrusive ads' setting. Not on blocking all ads. I still see ads often enough.

Not sure how long that setting was in Chrome, a quick Google search points to it starting worldwide in July this year, so all previous years I've managed just fine without it. Can't say I've noticed anything different since July either.

 

[Phoenix944]

No it's not. Too many weird ads out there. From the creppy amazon suggesting things you browse on google to the clickbait trash ads "FIND OUT HOW THIS SINGLE MOM CURE CANCER WITH A SIMPLE TRICK"

 

[The BLJ]

I'll stop using adblockers when Internet advertisements stop being disruptive. Plus Chrome can't even handle advertisements at all - if you permit them, your browser crashes after 10 minutes because the ads start up too many processes. So even if I only permit ads on those sites that I use often and that don't show ads that are pop-ups, NSFW, loud, viruses, etc., it still ends up being disruptive.

I do feel bad about blocking ads, especially on sites I use everyday. But enabling them literally makes browsing impossible.

 

[Symphony]

I have never used an ad blocker in my life and I really don't see the need to. Apparently my internet experience should be terrible and my devices must now be infected with dozens if not hundreds of malware apps or scripts if I were to believe some of the people here. Maybe they are, but I just didn't notice, and all of my devices haven't been reinstalled ever since first use.

Click to shrink...

Go and run a Malwarebytes scan one day and get back to us with the number of threats it finds, my money is on at least triple digits.

 

[LinkStrikesBack]

Unless you're visiting piracy or hentai sites* or something else weird, you don't need an additional adblocker to what your browser already does in 2019.

*If you think I'm calling you out, I am.

 

[SurrenderDorothy]

Nope. Nothing immoral about it.

 

[Chimpzy]

Marketing is working very hard to convince us of that, yes.

 

[Deleted member 12379]

fuck ads. ill buy shit like era clear though to help support the sites I go to.

 

[Deleted member 923]

If websites weren't giving my phone/laptop/PC aids then there'd be no reason for me to use them, but they do so yeah I got no issues using it.

 

[Deleted member 2809]

Unless you're visiting piracy or hentai sites* or something else weird, you don't need an additional adblocker to what your browser already does in 2019.

*If you think I'm calling you out, I am.

Click to shrink...

Naive.

 

[Shining Star]

I can't imagine using the internet without an ad blocker. You pay a lot for internet anyway.

 

[DJKippling]

ads are immoral if anything.

 

[The Vathlonian]

Hell no. I remember when ads were a rarity. The internet has changed COMPLETELY! It really is like Minority Report now where you're 'walking' through and various ads are screaming for your attention with products catered to your personal interest. It is fucking terrifying. You google a thin one time and now you're innundated with ads about it for the rest of the year. Like some funky thought control.

 

[BladeoftheImmortal]

The worst sites are those ones with a news story that make you click through 15 pages of tiny paragraphs just so you get all the ads. Then they also have ads that look like next page arrows so you'll click them. So nope I don't feel bad using ad blocker

 

[Skade]

I mean... Are condoms immoral ? Cause that's the exact same thing.

 

[UltimusXI]

Go and run a Malwarebytes scan one day and get back to us with the number of threats it finds, my money is on at least triple digits.

Click to shrink...

I just did and it found 1 threat of type 'malware' and it was an EXE file in a folder underneath C:\$RECYCLE.BINS\, meaning it's apparently in a user's recycle bin. Seeing as it's not in mine, it must be in my gf's. Might be a Sims download or something, nothing related to ads. Being on Windows 10 of course Windows Defender is running at all times so that might have caught some threats, but I don't remember it ever mentioning any threats.

Seriously, having an up to date operating system and browser is so much more important than an ad blocker imo and seeing as I've lived without one for over 20 years now, including times when pop up ads were prevalent everywhere and browser / OS security was much much worse, I really don't see any threat in online ads with my browser habits. At least not when OS + browser are up-to-date.

 

[supernormal]

I have never used an ad blocker in my life and I really don't see the need to. Apparently my internet experience should be terrible and my devices must now be infected with dozens if not hundreds of malware apps or scripts if I were to believe some of the people here. Maybe they are, but I just didn't notice, and all of my devices haven't been reinstalled ever since first use.

Instead, everything's perfectly fine. Sure soms pages probably load faster without ads, but I don't notice any wait time.

If a site uses too many or very intrusive ads, I just stop using the site and find an alternative. Simple. It barely happens to me though, not sure what kinds of websites everyone regularly visits that are unbearable without an ad blocker.

If someone asks me to check a link on a questionable or unknown website, I open it in incognito.

Click to shrink...

Same. I use both chrome and edge.

Go and run a Malwarebytes scan one day and get back to us with the number of threats it finds, my money is on at least triple digits.

Click to shrink...

I just did and it found 0 threats.

 

[UltimusXI]

I can't imagine using the internet without an ad blocker. You pay a lot for internet anyway.

Click to shrink...

You pay your ISP but does your ISP pay anything to content creators, web site developers or server costs?

 

[JigglesBunny]

Fuck no. Ad blockers improved my internet experience 100%.

Websites need to find better ways to make money than shitty ADs that give me malware.

Click to shrink...

Bingo. I may feel a bit bad about depriving a website of ad revenue but I feel worse having to constantly scan my computers for whatever infectious shit these intrusive ads give me.

 

[Symphony]

I just did and it found 1 threat of type 'malware' and it was an EXE file in a folder underneath C:\$RECYCLE.BINS\, meaning it's apparently in a user's recycle bin. Seeing as it's not in mine, it must be in my gf's.

Click to shrink...

I just did and it found 0 threats.

Click to shrink...

I'm actually rather surprised. Malwarebytes starts reporting threats anytime I have to use another browser without an adblocker for a few mins, even places like Twitch, I literally have multiple scans parked ready to run the second I'm done because of it.

 

[Not Spaceghost]

I want to at least have SOME say when a website deserves to make money off my visit.

I don't like the idea of websites making money off my visit just because I click on the website from a google search, especially before knowing whether or not I agree with your content or decide that I like your content.

Also adblockers make websites load faster.

 

[Kinggroin]

Fine to use. As a website owner that lives and dies on ad revenue, I need to earn a place on my visitors' whitelist by not overstepping my bounds.

I recommend trying every new website WITH ads enabled, and only disable the ads if they are obtrusive

 

[supernormal]

I'm actually rather surprised. Malwarebytes starts reporting threats anytime I have to use another browser without an adblocker for a few mins, even places like Twitch, I literally have multiple scans parked ready to run the second I'm done because of it.

Click to shrink...

Just like the other user, I'm guessing it's Windows Defender keeping everything in order.

 

[Shining Star]

You pay your ISP but does your ISP pay anything to content creators, web site developers or server costs?

Click to shrink...

I don't know, what does it matter to me.

 

[UltimusXI]

I'm actually rather surprised. Malwarebytes starts reporting threats anytime I have to use another browser without an adblocker for a few mins, even places like Twitch, I literally have multiple scans parked ready to run the second I'm done because of it.

Click to shrink...

I know when I used to run anti virus scans like ten years or so ago, I noticed most of the 'threats' were tracking cookies, which do no harm to your system at all (only to your privacy). Not sure what Malwarebytes reports on when running it constantly. Maybe Windows Defender already did that for me.

 

[Deleted member 4208]

It's a security issue at this point. I was visiting another gaming-related site and they had one of those "please turn off your adblocker, we need the money" messages and since I'd found it useful I figured what the heck and whitelisted them. The very first thing that happened? A pop-up to a fake Adobe Flash download page. Nope!

If they used non-instrusive static images that didn't significantly slow down loading web pages, then fine. But not when they insist on running code.

 

[VariantX]

I don't think neither ads nor adblockers are immoral. Ads provide revenue for the site to stay open and adblockers exist because some amoral people decided it would be a good idea to sneak hostile shit into ads that either expose you to shit you don't want on your system or take over your browser.

 

[SigSig]

I don't care about ads at all. They can pop-up right into my face, autoplay video, idgaf. I do care about being tracked tho, so no 3rd party ressources allowed, sorry. Figure out how to serve that shit locally.

 

[h1nch]

Guarantee to me in writing that all ads displayed on a site are not visually or audibly intrusive, certify that they don't contain malware, and won't have any noticeable increase in cpu/ram/disk/network utilization on my machine and I'll consider it.

Until then it's ad blockers, tracker blockers, and dns filtering for me.

 

[Falchion]

As long as ads keep redirecting me without clicking on them and giving viruses then I'll have one.

 

[mxbison]

if the ads weren't so horrendously obnoxius on some sites to the point where the sites become almost unusable, I might change my mind. so probably never.

I do have some sites unblocked though.

 

[The Albatross]

No, you have every legal, ethical, and moral right to do whatever you want to content that you download onto your machine from the internet. As long as you're not re-uploading that modified content and hosting it somewhere else, there's nothing wrong with what you do to it. If you want to modify the colors of ResetEra so that they're red and green, and it's ChristmasEra all year round, then there's nothing unethical about it -- it's on your computer, it's your data, you're paying for it, modify it how you like.

If you want to change every ad so that it's pictures of, like, dogs, then that's your right, it's on your computer, go for it. If you want to intercept the ad in the process of it being downloaded and cancel the download, divert it, remove it, or anything else, it's your right, and it's ethical. It's your data, it's your bandwidth, it's your browser, it's your storage, it's your device.

ANd vice versa, if you want to view ads, then by all means, it's your data and your machine, run all the ads you want.

 

[moriquendi]

Does visiting a publicly available website by itself impose any obligations on the user? Is this something people have simply taken for granted, or has this actually been decided somewhere? Seems to me that imposing an agreement to use adds requires more then simply having a website.

 

[Sidebuster]

Unless you're visiting piracy or hentai sites* or something else weird, you don't need an additional adblocker to what your browser already does in 2019.

*If you think I'm calling you out, I am.

Click to shrink...

malicious ads (that execute bad code) can be served on any website because they're controlled through the ad serving networks.

It goes like this:
Malicious ad with embedded code meant to do harm -> legit ad network server such as google or any other network really (gets added to revolving list of ads to serve) -> anywebsite.com

Edit: and it only gets removed if reported and actually caught which is always in a too late scenario.

I've had my browser hijacked before on "normal" websites such as the old place. That was back when I whitelisted sites I "trusted". Lets just say I don't trust any site anymore.

I believe there was a malicious ad that got through to a news site like Washington Post or something that did the same thing. You have to understand that they get served everywhere, not just weird porn sites. If you browse a site that has ads, it's a potential malware vector.

 

[Pomerlaw]

I use the Brave browser at home and I don't think I'm going back.

 

[ckareset]

Honestly I get pop up malware when I use resetera mobile sometimes.

You have to be insane to not be using adblockers

 

[cakely]

I mean, of course I turn my ad-blocker off for Resetera.

But fuck no, it's not immoral not to watch a god damn commercial. We're not living in that corporate dystopia yet.

Honestly I get pop up malware when I use resetera mobile sometimes.

You have to insane to not be using adblockers

Click to shrink...

Firefox mobile here: and yeah, I've been getting those pop-ups as well, claiming to be from Chase CC services. I haven't reported it simply because I'm in too much of a hurry to close the entire browser when it happens.

 

[Deleted member 29660]

They became obnoxious and in your face without any restraint so my opinion is fuck them.

 

[Deleted member 54292]

make the ads safer and I will reconsider. the number of "YOURE THE X# VISTOR CLAIM YOUR PRIZE" ads on mobile resetera I received in the past few days was obnoxious.

 

[Aaron D.]

Nope.

 

[fontguy]

Unless you're visiting piracy or hentai sites* or something else weird, you don't need an additional adblocker to what your browser already does in 2019.

*If you think I'm calling you out, I am.

Click to shrink...

Yeah. Even some of my favorite hentai sites, like Equifax, Spotify, and Youtube, are drowning in malware. Though torrent sites, like the New York Times, BBC, NFL, and the fucking Xfinity account management page are the worst of the worst.