Quote:
Originally Posted by woj
Internet generation is becoming delusional... not too long ago if you wanted content you had to pay for it, then everything became free (ad supported)... then some asshat came along, created ad block software, fucking internet marketers out of Billions/year in the process... and of course all this is not only "normal", but we should promote these ad block add ons? are you guys sniffing glue or something?
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This is not an Internet Generation thing. Shareware/ad supported software and ad supported sites have been around since the dawn on the modern-day WWW, and certainly since the mid-90's. And so have ad blockers and anti-virus services which also block many ads. (some may remember when Norton AV was not sending referral headers and anti-hotlinking htaccess files were, thus, blocking content from those using Norton). This is not a new problem, not by a long shot and certainly not limited to the Internet Generation.
That said, it's absolutely gotten worse. But it's not new.
Adblockers are a reality. Popup blockers have been a reality with modern day browsers for years already. Cookie and privacy blocking are now also inherent in modern browsers. We may not agree with it, but publishers basically have two choices these days:
1. Spend a bunch of time fighting the adblockers and ultimately leave money on the table by blocking people with adblockers installed. Rely entirely on banners for their calls to action. Or
2. Think outside the box and engage the surfer in other ways. Provide an alternate call to action besides just a banner. If not, you're leaving money on the table.