Chris Blattman

Chris Blattman

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Why you should block ads

Arguments against ad blocking tend to focus on the potential economic harms. Because advertising is the dominant business model on the internet, if everyone used ad-blocking software then wouldn’t it all collapse?

…There are literally billions of dollars being spent to figure out how to get you to look at one thing over another; to buy one thing over another; to care about one thing over another. This is the way we are now monetizing most of the information in the world.

The large-scale effort that has emerged to capture and exploit your attention as efficiently as possible is often referred to as the “attention economy.”

…So if you wanted to cast a vote against the attention economy, how would you do it?

…ad blockers are one of the few tools that we as users have if we want to push back against the perverse design logic that has cannibalized the soul of the Web.

If enough of us used ad blockers, it could help force a systemic shift away from the attention economy altogether—and the ultimate benefit to our lives would not just be “better ads.” It would be better products: better informational environments that are fundamentally designed to be on our side, to respect our increasingly scarce attention, and to help us navigate under the stars of our own goals and values.

James Williams on why it’s not just ok, but a moral obligation to use adblocker software. Hat tip @RobReich.

27 Responses

  1. I’m instinctively skeptical of any argument that promotes an ethical behavior that is entirely upside for individual. Doubly skeptical because the argument is dependent on someone inventing a new form of funding content creation.

    There already is an alternative to advertising: higher cost subscription services. Many of these either have less intrusive ads or no ads at all, if you’re vehement on the matter you can certainly pick the latter.

    I have no idea what would replacement advertising, maybe it would be better, maybe it would be worse. But I do know that when i’m not willing to pay for good content, often it goes away.

  2. I disagree. Wide-spread use of ad blockers leads to “advertorials” and other stuff that’s much less honest than a simple ad. And/or more and more publishers will use paywalls.

    “In reality, ad blockers are one of the few tools that we as users have if we want to push back against the perverse design logic that has cannibalized the soul of the Web.”

    If a website is annoying to use because of ads, switch to a competitor. Better yet, let the people in charge know! Complain if ads use sounds or animations, or if loading times are terrible. Make sure to block Adobe Flash because it is unsafe. But accept simple graphic or text ads — or pay for an ad-free service.

    People who block the ads on the client side but still use the site don’t help to improve anything. They just take the personally convenient option.

  3. The thing is, ads don’t have to be terrible. Some people watch the Super Bowl more for the ads than the football. People loved Don Draper and his imaginative campaigns. The most internet ads don’t even try to be appealing–they’re actually confrontational. I can’t imagine there’s ultimately much value in the ads that antagonize the people who are forced to watch them.

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