Adblocking - should it be banned?

[ufkacbln]

Part of the article on the BBC iPlayer announcements by the Culture Secetary also mentioned the used of Adblockers

THe concept is that by blocking the ads you are depriving the sites from income and you are part of a "protection racket" if you use them

“Quite simply – if people don’t pay in some way for content, then that content will eventually no longer exist,”

Personally I do not want these adverts, and as with any unsolicited simply ignore. What is more I object to the fact that as they are using my data allowance, I am actually paying for these unwanted ads



What do people think?

 

[Booyaa]

No, I don't think it should be banned. For years adverts have been an annoyance at best when browsing, now that revenues are being impacted everyone cries about it. If the content was good enough people will pay for it.

 

[Wafer]

In my views advertisers have been taking the piss, getting more and more obtrusive etc... So people have responded with ways to block them. Perfectly fine in my opinion, yes they need income to run the sites but they need to earn people's trust and do 'better' advertising and perhaps fewer people will block it.

 

[jefmcg]

The minister wanting to ban ad blockers reminds me of the old Max Headroom series, where it was a crime to have an off switch on your television.

 

[Shut Up Legs]

I don't use adblockers, but this instead: http://winhelp2002.mvps.org/hosts.htm
So I guess technically I'm not using adblocking "software", since it's just a text file.

 

[MontyVeda]

Fast-forwarding through adverts... should it be banned?
Not looking at billboards... should it be banned?

Daft question. ...but the culture secretary isn't on the same planet as the rest of us.

 

[ufkacbln]

Fast-forwarding through adverts... should it be banned?
Not looking at billboards... should it be banned?

Daft question. ...but the culture secretary isn't on the same planet as the rest of us.

I send unsolicited mail back....

Fill the "Freepost" envelope with other unsolicited mail and post

 

[swee'pea99]

Would this be a member of the government that last year spent £60,000 on Facebook advertising telling people to make their tax returns...the Facebook that paid a grand total of £4,000 Corporation Tax for the year?

 

[Levo-Lon]

Ive just put adblocker on my tablet...NO vote for me its great..i wish i could put it on my TV and Radio

 

[Spinney]

I don't mind static ads - what really piss me off are ads that pop up in front of the stuff I'm trying to read, or ones that automatically start playing video and making my download speed slow down. I'd happily ban those.

 

[Supersuperleeds]

If I come across a site that won't let me use it because of adblocker, I go elsewhere

 

[mjr]

Fill the "Freepost" envelope with other unsolicited mail and post

Only post? I guess gravel isn't as cheap as it used to be.

 

[mjr]

Firefox on mobile comes with some ad blocker, unless things have changed, precisely because you usually end up paying for their data use.

On the desktop, noscript.net stops the most obnoxious ads from getting underfoot.

 

[MichaelW2]

Culture Sec is a moron who should look up the word "Protection Racket" in a dictionary. It is more akin to shaking out the advert slips that have been carefully placed inside magazines that you have shoplifted.

 

[PhilDawson8270]

The internet provides plenty of excellent content. I did nearly type FREE content, but deleted it. As the truth is, it's not free, it is being paid for with advertising revenue instead of the consumer.

I have no issue in a content provider following this business model, that is their choice. However, there have been numerous occasions of malicious adverts being placed into the Google Ad system that infect user systems with viruses. While Google, are often very quick in removing these, the risk is still there. Until there is far, far better protection for the user, then AdBlock is just as important as any other virus protection.