Ad blocking add-ons and advertising

[INTJloner]

I downloaded ad blocking software for Firefox - and am considering the implications if adblocking software gains widespread acceptance by the tens or hundreds of millions...

What are your opinions?

[Zombicide]

Actually, although I do dislike pop up advertisements, sometimes I want to see ads (but not abruptly hear them), on occasion I even feel slightly obligated to review, click on or accept them. I believe it could be unfortunate for the unwitting clients themselves who use it, if ad-blocking software took on a significantly greater role in the net. Aside from pop ups, advertisement is a relatively convenient way for a site to make money because it's not necessarily as annoying as other means.

[LionsPride]

I wish the use of ad blocking software would lead to the creation of less obtrusive ads which most people wouldn't feel the need to block. I find ads in general don't bother me, but there are ones that flash, take up a significant amount of screen space, are offensive or *gasp* talk out loud that annoy me. The truth though is that companies will just get creative on how to get their ad in your face, so I suspect we'll see more irritating ad methods that are harder to block as a result.

[Anumidium]

I don't mind Google ads - those text ads you see everywhere that are tailored to whatever page you're looking at. They're usually color-matched to whatever page they're on, too. Anything else gets hit with my ad blocker - I don't want something I don't want to see taking up my valuable bandwidth and making the page load that much slower. With the way the ad-blocking plugins work, I would say they are impossible to get around. Ads are hosted on servers, have certain URLs. Block those servers, block those URLs. A new one pops up, block it too (this is where the weakness is, yes, but I don't see how any one ad can hit more than a few people before it's blocked. Not worth it from the advertiser's point of view). It works- I haven't seen an ad in years. I hope that the advertisers will realise this and cut back, but I doubt it will happen. The advertising industry is just too large.

[4sakentears]

Google and non-intrusive ads are OK, but any "in your face" or Flash ad gets blocked here.