I like ads on podcasts: not invasive, support the shows and can't put malwares on my pc. Honestly I find an adblock for podcasts a total dick move (outside of the intellectual exercise part of course).
If you expect payment for a service, give your "customers" an opportunity to support you directly. It can be a premium account, merchandise, or even a simple donation service. Don't force your "customers" to become the product.
I don't see why podcasts should get a pass.
This is interesting, but isn't be an argument against offering a pay-for option. I expect the paying subscribers are more valuable per user, so any user you convert to paying increases your revenue.
...but if that option isn't available, that makes stealing ok? "Hmm, I like this podcast but I don't like the ads. There's no premium support option. Therefore... I will consume the content of the podcast without the ads."
I find this line of thinking a bit immoral, to be honest. The moral option is to not listen to the podcast. And before you jump on me asking if its immoral to go to the bathroom during a TV ad break, I'm talking strictly about algorithmic ad-blocking.
It would be like if I had a place setup where you can get a copy of one of my indie video games I've been privately developing after watching an ad. My place has no option to flat out pay for copies of my indie games. But... you really like my indie games so you decide it's okay to just walk in and steal copies of my indie games until I provide you with an option to pay for them.
If we all start using audio adblockers, advertisers will then develop adblock detectors for podcasts. Then, it is likely we will get completely unskippable ads.
The only moral options are to 1) Power through the ads (or fast forward through them) so that you may listen to the podcast for free 2) Become a premium user to skip the ads (unfortunately this isn't always an option) 3) Don't listen to the podcast
For example, watching non-premium crunchyroll with an ad-blocker enabled is dishonest, IMO.
The content creator is not rewarded by your extra effort. A lost view is a lost view.
It's morally grey, in my opinion.
If we can agree that:
1. Using an adblocker on services that offer premium versions (such as Crunchyroll) is dishonest
2. Going to the bathroom/looking away from the TV during an ad playing on Crunchyroll free is not dishonest
Then the morality line is somewhere in between there.
My philosophy is to always support the content creator in some way. To consume content while robbing the creator of their source of income (even if it's pennies) is dishonest, in my opinion. I don't have qualms manually skipping an ad I've already seen 5 times, and can quote buy heart, however.
The trouble with the rest of the online ad space is that they destroy performance and are VERY invasive.
Tracking and malware are serious issues as well but they're not the main reason for the vitriolic hate. Even if they didn't track you and were vetted flawlessly for malware, they would STILL be avoided like the plague by any user savvy enough to do it.
I wish websites would stop fucking around and realize that there is a limit to the amount of advertising we will tolerate. I like free stuff and I don't mind ads to fund it. But if the annoyance of the ads exceeds the entertainment from the content, you're shooting yourself in the leg.
On mobile, I use a VPN that blocks ads or malicious websites, and it happens to block the whole episodes from downloading on such podcasts.
I do agree that some ads can be enjoyable (like the sponsored narrations of the authors endorsing a product in a playful manner -- think "No Such Thing as a Fish" or "Comedy Bang Bang").
I try to support artists that accept donations through Patreon (on a per episode or monthly basis), but this quickly gets expensive.
I would like some sort of way of actually prorating a set amount of money between the podcasts I'm listening to (something like Brave browser, but with more accountability).
The other issue is that a handful of the shows I listen to that are patreon supported, are starting to introduce insane amounts of ads. One of the shows I listen to, always opens with 5-7 mins of ad reads, and then continues to have smaller, 3-4 min ad breaks throughout the show. It's frankly too much.
I've done my due diligence and left low reviews on these shows, but that really doesn't matter. I'm all for adblockers due to the seemingly brazen injection of more and more advertising in a space that used to use advertising in moderation.
The problem with "premium" podcasts is that every publisher has their own premium, and some publishers don't seem to have a premium ad-free option at all.
What I'd prefer is an ad-free central podcast service or app that I could subscribe to for ad-free podcasts. I'd be happy to pay for that. Failing that, I'd jump on any podcast player that used this technology to skip ads automatically for me.
The same goes for public media beg-a-thons. We get it, you want people to donate. Don't waste 30 min of our time begging.