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To Block or not to Block?

(6 Posts)
annodomini Tue 30-May-17 11:08:44

Ads, that is. I had previously un-installed Ad-Block+ because various newspaper sites informed me that I was endangering their advertising revenue by blocking the ads that keep them going. So I have been putting up with unwanted advertisements for at least a year and was constantly irritated by their appearance in the middle of articles I was reading on news sites and long posts on Facebook. So yesterday I re-installed the Ad-Block app and was faced by a plaintive message on the Independent site asking me to uninstall it. Should I feel guilty about getting rid of the annoyance of unwanted ads and (allegedly) putting newspaper sites in jeopardy?

CleopatraSoup Tue 30-May-17 11:23:22

Swings and roundabouts I'm afraid. The newspaper/magazine industry is in dire straights.

Do we want the Indie (or the Graun) to be behind a paywall? Cos that's what will happen eventually if they can't raise revenue by advertising. I know they are annoying especially the ones with intrusive sound, so for that reason I keep the sound down on my Mac.

I've stopped using our local newspaper websites because I was bombarded with adverts and they took such a long time to load even on superfast broadband.

thatbags Tue 30-May-17 11:24:11

Another way to cut the adverts out of online newspapers is to choose reader mode. On my ipad there's a button with which to do this at the left hand end of the browser search bar. It means you just get the text and no adds.

janeainsworth Tue 30-May-17 11:47:47

anno if you feel guilty about blocking ads you could always subscribe to publications you feel deserve your support.
The Guardian send you a nice shopping bag when you become a member smile

annodomini Tue 30-May-17 12:41:35

I have the Guardian shopping bag, janea. The Independent site is terribly slow, so I don't feel the need to consult it very often.

annodomini Tue 30-May-17 12:46:07

bags, not being a possessor of an i-Pad, I don't think my laptop has a 'reader mode'.