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Comment by kevin_thibedeau | Hacker News Reader

I install ad blockers because I don't want to get auto redirected to a porn site which some unscrupulous ad vendors make possible. I tried going blocker free at work for 6 months. uBO got installed the day I was sent to a porn site by malicious JavaScript after clicking on an innocuous link.

Google won't address the JavaScript problem with their ad network so I cut them off.

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Sample bias here. But this hasn't happened to me since the early 2000's. I do not have any ad blocker, no ad bothers me, unless its an adult site, they've gone really crazy there.

I got forcibly redirected on a baseball statistics site multiple times while not using Adblock (my mobile phone which didn't have it). It happens all the time.

Then I guess you are a lucky person. Read up on one of the many ad based exploit toolkits[1].

It took a crypto malware to convince a company I was working with to install uBlock. No more ads, no more flash, no more ransomware.

[1] https://heimdalsecurity.com/blog/ultimate-guide-angler-explo...

Just stating: I do think they attempt to address this, they have a great malvertising team, but the problem is huge. If the attack is broad enough it absolutely gets addressed... it’s just such a logistical challenge, and malvertisers are exceedingly clever about their wares

The Internet for people who don't know about ad blockers must be a horrible place, it's no wonder everybody started using apps for everything.

Aren't apps also crippled by ads?

Yes. Apps are a step backwards because they are in a much less user-controlled space. App adoption is more correlated with mobile platform adoption as opposed to demand for ad blocking.

Not nearly as much as mobile web.

Some have ads, but they are definitely not crippled by ads and malware.

Not that horrible. I don't use an adblock at work, even if what I'm browsing is limited to the register and HN with the linked pages and it's usable.

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