On a site I recently saw a poll about adblock. It showed that 90% of the users there actually used adblock. I know that it is a group of powerusers but I think that is disturbing and I will try to explain why.
The main reason why I’m not using adblock is because it means that the sites I use don’t get ad revenue. A lot of people don’t seem to realize that sites can remain free through the ad revenue.
Why do sites need ad-revenue?
Sites need ad-revenue to pay for several things. Web-servers aren’t free, I pay €12 a month for my server to host 2 sites plus €8 a year per domain. Do note that I only host small sites, the bigger the site, the higher the cost of the server.
“Reasons” to block ads
Most users, however, find all kinds of excuses to block ads. Here are some:
I’m just one person, it doesn’t matter
This is a weak argument and you probably know it. You’re not the only one thinking this and to be honest, your ad click could make sure I can still pay for this server.
I don’t click on ads anyway
That actually doesn’t matter. Some ad-publishers pay-per-click and others pay-per-impression. In the last case, the site gets paid by just showing the ads. The site doesn’t get anything if you block the ad since that gets detected. Also, newspapers and TV-ads do the same. You see the ad, you know the product and you might want to look at it later.
I don’t want to support that site
Then don’t visit the site.
Those ads play music and/or video’s, it’s annoying
If a site has annoying ads, tell them. It’s usually so that the site can go to their control panel to blacklist certain ads. I, for example, have blocked all Ringtones & Downloadables since they are usually scammy and end up costing the clicker a lot of money. I know that they would probably pay well but I wouldn’t feel good about it.
I whitelist the sites I use most
What about sites that have a REALLY good topic once, you only visit it once but don’t they deserve to get paid?
The only good reason I can think of is if your bandwidth is capped. I know that you need the bandwidth so that’s okay in my mind. To be honest though, please donate then.
I think that most reasons here should be good enough for you to disable adblock. If you have a good reason not to, please share the reason and I will try to convince you. Keep in mind that Google, FaceBook, reddit, YouTube, etc. couldn’t function without the ads.
