This is not a matter of being pro or anti adblocking, but rather about realizing how far the consequences of a default value can reach.
This is not a matter of being pro or anti adblocking, but rather about realizing how far the consequences of a default value can reach.
Advertising is responsible for all the treason of the 2000-2010 websites that took all the privacy of people in exchange for pity digital beads and mirrors, the cost is an ongoing avertisement harrasment into people's private sphere.
Also due to laziness, complacent and risk adverse handling of the receivers of that advertising money, it made the advertising companies too powerful, while these sell nothing but broken promisses and bullshit, so no value for whatever price.
All the stuff that advertising bought and brought to the people is mediocre and bland.
I personally hope that advertising will face the same "pull the carpet from beneith them" treatment as all the other big media industries like RIAA and MPAA.
My personal opinion on advertising is very critical, very much like yours. It litterally cripples content quality for pebbles.
As a side note, I currently make about 100$/month with advertising on my mobile apps (~10-15k active users). I really want to switch to a paid product but I'm having trouble picking a correct price for it since I'm not completely satisfied with it myself. There are some mental barriers that I need to break first. Ads were an easy way out, I totally see myself in your pamphlet: a lazy and complacent developer, so afraid to see his pricing expectations shattered that he preferred to ship a free app with a bland and mediocre ad banner. Again, for pebbles.
So many times I heard the argument that advertising was the thing that made the internet cheaper and accessible to all, this is simply not true, upscaling made it cheaper and better software made it more accessible.
As I am online for quite a while (over 15 years), I have seen so much crap appearing due to the advertising industry. The quality of what is available online has only got worse, I personally think that the more expensive internet of 15 years ago was worth every penny while the cheap access nowadays is too expensive for the crap that is being offered.
I am glad that paid services are coming back online and will hopefully normalise this webworld again to pre 2000-2010 norms.
Unlike the advertisement world, I think not everything should be free, quality can have a price tag and rightfully so.
I wish you all wisdom and luck and hope you can convert your business.
b.t.w. I do not think that an ISP should decide to block adverts, however I do think the public should be able to choose, I use the HOSTS file to black out all adverts, which is quite efficient and does not need external code (like in the router or in a firefox add-on).
I think there are legitimate questions: at which point would it become not acceptable for you? who decides what is blocked? should it be enabled by default?
Also if the ISP is in the business of "editorializing" what the user sees, maybe it becomes actually responsible for the content (no safe harbor). That also seems like a dangerous game for them.
It's that simple, without adverts the world wide web would be locked down into silo's that make the Facebook of today look like a charity.
Want to read that article, get ready for the "do you subscribe to one of our partner services? if not click here to pay only $20 a month for unlimited PaidContentOnDemand" messages