This is gonna be a shitty post, feel free to ignore it. You have been warned.
I’ve written about adblocking before, so this isn’t a completely new topic. But I came across this thread on Reddit today and after reading it, I noticed there were some interesting points being raised in the comments. Most of the comments were in support for adblockers, with uBlock Origin being the most recommended one (I use it too).
Anyway, there were arguments about how advertisements shouldn’t be a thing at all, and if sites want money to continue running, they can charge their readers. After all, if a reader thinks something is worth reading, he/she would fork out money for it.
I thought that was a valid viewpoint – however, it will only work for sites that have content of similar quality unavailable elsewhere. I mean, we all know how cheap human beings usually are – if there’s a free alternative, they’ll usually take it unless its quality is sub-par.
But I was just thinking to myself – internet access isn’t free. At least not for me. I pay almost RM200 a month for my internet connection. Shouldn’t I deserve access to content online? Of course, I do. I think?
Then I thought harder, and realized it was a stupid idea.
Conclusion? Sites can remain the same in terms of displaying adverts. They’ll still make money off the people who don’t use adblock, which is supposedly the majority of people on the internet. People like me can choose to use adblock if I want an ad-free experience. Everybody wins. I think.
Until using adblock becomes illegal like vaping in some countries because the government needs to make money off cigarette sales. Wait, what am I saying?
Anyway, while we’ve eliminated a lot of ads via adblock, some ads can’t be blocked (at least for now). These include: sponsored posts on Twitter/Facebook/Instagram – ads which appear as ‘normal’ posts to adblockers, so you can’t really filter them. We still can’t block ads on radio or TV, good thing I don’t bother wasting time with those mediums. kek.