Disqus Ads Are No Longer Free to Disable

Also, it would be nice if they supported a SQLite backend, which would probably make more sense for small blogs running on very weak shared servers.

Here was a comment related to this topic on the blog post https://kinsta.com/blog/disqus-ads/#comment-3153203837

We're planning to post an update clarifying this on our blog soon.

Edit: no need to downvote just because you disagree...

The more I learn about advertising, the more I find arguments against it compelling. Disqus is a comment system that facilitates the free exchange of ideas. If it relies significantly on ads, then advertisers can begin to police it by threatening to pull sponsorship. This eliminates productive discussion that threatens the interests of advertisers. For instance, advertisers don't like placing ads alongside people that care too much about things, they prefer people to be lightly entertained and in a buying mood. They also don't like placing their ads alongside controversy, as it can negatively impact their brand.

Thus reliance on advertising introduces an interdependency on a relatively small set of giant corporations' goodwill, even for niche activities and will, which when push comes to shove, substitute their positions for the managers' of Disqus. Allowing advertisements to be turned off actually immunized Disqus somewhat from this problem, but having advertisements on everywhere enables it. Allowing users to pay to turn them off probably more than offsets this, though it does impact exceptionally poor users (who, for some reason, are probably more likely to dissent controversially). That could be ameliorated by case-by-case ad waivers if the issue comes up, though it does come close to Disqus endorsing a controversial issue.

Maybe this seems like a minor issue, but Disqus provides a platform for debate, and advertising can act to bound the limits of debate for better or worse. I would prefer if the Disqus managers could act according to their own moral compass when under pressure.

I have a strong policy against inline ads, so I may have to reconsider using Disqus for my blog if this goes through. (Unfortunately, the only competiton left is Facebook Comments)

I've been wrestling with why I feel so uncomfortable with this move. About the best analogy I've come up with: this feels like I've been using a maid service for years. They've done a reliable job keeping my place clean for when I have guests over. They decide that it is time to raise their rates, but rather than come directly to me to negotiate a pay increase they decide that they can just sell billfold space in my house when they clean.

It seems like a violation of a social contract, because my blog is my house and I don't intend to have advertising there, even if I did I'm too small of a fry to make any money that way.

I realize that no one wants to raise rates, and this sort of business model if I had been given the choice up front I'd probably be fine with... If I wasn't also growing increasingly weary of the race-to-bottom-feeding, increasingly toxic ad markets, which has been a concern worrying me the last few months and I haven't had any good ideas, but I certainly don't want my blog participating in that for what tiny bit that is worth.