Downside of Ad Blocking
by Jim Hillier for Daves Computer Tips
Many of your favorite sites probably depend on revenue from those ads you are blocking.
–PC Pitstop.
Do you utilize ad blocking software? What follows is my take on the possible consequences of this expanding practice and how it might all eventually impact on the web’s fundamental infrastructure. Agree or disagree? Either way, have your say via the comments.
The internet is a wondrous thing, a veritable goldmine of free information and services, and one of very few remaining areas which hasn’t suffered from the constraints inflicted by corporate monopolization. The World Wide Web consists of millions of independent sites, creating an environment which epitomizes the doctrines of competition and freedom of choice. But is that situation destined for change?
The saying that ‘nothing in life is free’ is clearly demonstrated in all walks of life, there is almost always some kind of quid pro quo involved – in the internet world the quid pro quo is often adverts. It’s strange how our expectations differ from the real world to the internet world. In the real world we fully expect to pay for most things yet in the internet world the exact opposite applies… we expect to pay for nothing, or at least, for very little. Fortunately for us, this has been largely achievable, and in no small way thanks to the revenue generated via advertising.
A vast majority of sites are run and administered by ordinary folk with ordinary jobs who rely solely on ad revenue to help cover the overheads involved. Most are happy if revenue from advertizing even partially covers the costs, ecstatic if it wholly covers the costs, “profit” is not even a consideration. Take away or severely diminish that source of income and you create a recipe for dramatic change. Those affected sites will ultimately need to either find an alternate avenue for generating revenue, or close down altogether.
These excerpts are shared with permission from davescomputertips.com.
