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I've currently got AdBlock installed on Chrome, and it's awesome - Now I can watch Youtube without spending half an hour on commercials! But then again, I just started thinking, if I watch YouTubers that aren't that big but try to earn money, am I being immoral? I'm not giving them any money from ads. The same thing struck me here on Dakka; Is it immoral of me to have AdBlock?

I use adblock too, but, I whitelist youtubers I like and am subscribed to most of their Twitch channels too. As for Dakka, I've been a DCM for 3 years previously, that's a lot more money then any ads are going to make.

Why do you think so many are on patreon. Because, even Without adblack, they make people pennies.

 hotsauceman1 wrote:
Why do you think so many are on patreon. Because, even Without adblack, they make people pennies.

Except for the ones that are getting 100k plus views.

 Matthew wrote:
I've currently got AdBlock installed on Chrome, and it's awesome - Now I can watch Youtube without spending half an hour on commercials! But then again, I just started thinking, if I watch YouTubers that aren't that big but try to earn money, am I being immoral? I'm not giving them any money from ads. The same thing struck me here on Dakka; Is it immoral of me to have AdBlock?

Actually, I think on Youtube at the very least you get paid by people watching your video and I don't think Adblockers are monitored.

So the person makes money either way, at least on youtube. Other sites may have software that stops people who have adblockers from watching.

I'm sure Dakka is still getting paid even for clicks that generate from adblocker patrons.

 Grey Templar wrote:

 Matthew wrote:
I've currently got AdBlock installed on Chrome, and it's awesome - Now I can watch Youtube without spending half an hour on commercials! But then again, I just started thinking, if I watch YouTubers that aren't that big but try to earn money, am I being immoral? I'm not giving them any money from ads. The same thing struck me here on Dakka; Is it immoral of me to have AdBlock?

Actually, I think on Youtube at the very least you get paid by people watching your video and I don't think Adblockers are monitored.

So the person makes money either way, at least on youtube. Other sites may have software that stops people who have adblockers from watching.

I'm sure Dakka is still getting paid even for clicks that generate from adblocker patrons.

You're wrong. All income on youtube comes from ads. Though they did recently add a tip jar.

Thats what I said isn't it?

The owners of the video get paid from the advertisement money, and the amount is determined by how many people watch your video(and ostensibly see the add)

You might get paid a little extra if someone actually clicks on an add as well.


So unless they also have software which can determine if the watcher has Ad Block up, they'll get paid even if the person watching is using add block.

 Grey Templar wrote:
Thats what I said isn't it?

The owners of the video get paid from the advertisement money, and the amount is determined by how many people watch your video(and ostensibly see the add)

You might get paid a little extra if someone actually clicks on an add as well.


So unless they also have software which can determine if the watcher has Ad Block up, they'll get paid even if the person watching is using add block.

Ah, the way you worded it made me think you meant it other way around.

Ignore my last post then.

I have adblock too. Do they actually have a way to see how many people use adblock? If not, than it would not have any implications (less money) for the site/Youtuber.

In any case, I liked Dakka enough to throw a bit of money at it. Hope that makes up for using Adblock. Not that ads on Dakka are annoying, in fact, I found a few nice miniature sites via ads on Dakka.

It's not so much that they register people using adblock or anything, they just block ads from being played thus the ad is not attributed to whoever's content it was.

I think the ad is still there, the data packets are still trying to be delivered to the target IP address, they just never make it past the computer's firewall. So the ad would still get registered I think.

Its not immoral at all to adblock. Clicks should not generate income unless they are willing clicks.

If an ad gets clicked on there is interest, if an ad interrupts a video and you just want past it there is no interest.

I work for a publishing company that writes and publishes factual and entertainment websites and makes money from selling the ad impressions that are served when people look at our journalism.

Only we don't make nearly so much money now as a few years ago because so many readers are using ad blockers that we cannot serve the ad impressions we are trying to sell to advertisers. It is real impressions that we sell to advertisers, not imaginary impressions.

This is having the effect of reducing the amount of money we have to spend on journalism.

 Kilkrazy wrote:

This is having the effect of reducing the amount of money we have to spend on journalism.

Undoubtedly but if adverts weren't so intrusive and frankly irritating then people wouldn't need to use Adblock, or in my case Adblock edge which kills everything, then would there?

The widespread use of Adblock is a backlash to the heavy handed tactics that advertisers use to foist unwanted products on potential consumers.

Also, if it is at all within your power, stop using video ads which automatically play. Especially on sites I'm trying to watch videos on. It slows down my computer and drives me nuts.

 Silent Puffin? wrote:

 Kilkrazy wrote:

This is having the effect of reducing the amount of money we have to spend on journalism.

Undoubtedly but if adverts weren't so intrusive and frankly irritating then people wouldn't need to use Adblock, or in my case Adblock edge which kills everything, then would there?

The widespread use of Adblock is a backlash to the heavy handed tactics that advertisers use to foist unwanted products on potential consumers.

That and ads that serve up viruses. Considering just about every site I go to that uses ads has had at least one "whelp better hope your AV is updated" post I feel somewhat justified.

 hotsauceman1 wrote:
Why do you think so many are on patreon. Because, even Without adblack, they make people pennies.

Except for those on Patreon who subscribe for benefits, then cut it off before they have to pay, and re-subscribe in order to get the benefits again.

Patreon is pretty exploitable as is.

I know Hulu registers whether you're blocking ads or not, and then forces you to sit there for the length of time the ad would run for.

I use Adblock because of the large number of intrusive and potentially harmful ads on websites. If it's a site that I want to support I'll whitelist it. Though there aren't many.

I use Adblock after having a couple of viruses attack that were in the adverts. It's not the fault of the forum, completely legit places are not in control of the advertising space, but if they're not safe I'm not taking the risk.

1) Sites do detect Adblock, so it does reduce their income

2) I don't give a flying feth about your income, get a real job

3) I didn't sign any contract saying I have to look at your ads

4) You brought this upon yourselves through intrusive ads and atrocious security


(Speaking to a general *you*, not Dakka or anything)

Ads are the highest security risk to any PC so disabling them is the best thing you can do to make your computer safe. Furthermore, the ad revenue for an individual user is absolutely laughable. Donate 3-5$ per month to people you really like to watch videos from and they'll earn much, much more than they'd do with ads. My wife got a few YouTube channels she loves and I watch a few video game shows and both of us just donate money to the makers via PayPal.

 Soladrin wrote:
I use adblock too, but, I whitelist youtubers I like and am subscribed to most of their Twitch channels too. As for Dakka, I've been a DCM for 3 years previously, that's a lot more money then any ads are going to make.

This. I'm sorry but don't try and guilt trip me into getting all those gak ads onto my computer internet persons. Many ads are ludicrously distracting. They can play sound and video or have distracting effects. You can get a lot of malware from ads too without the website owner even knowing.

As a adblock user and a frequenter of youtube, I feel it is NOT immoral. But I do miss some of the movie trailers. Without TV that was my only other way of really learning about new movies

I'd feel bad about it, but as others have said, there's some major issues with the amount of malware and tracking nastyness that ads pass on.

Even if that weren't the case, I actively feel good about blocking ads/javascript every time something reminds me of the "click the flashing ad to win a free ipod!!!!!1" ads, particularly the ones with sound.

I'm sorry, but the business model is broken.

I've got it turned off for YT, because I've not really had many instances where I can't possibly wait at most 3 and a half minutes for a pre-roll advert to run, and I've never encountered a 'bad' advert on YT in many years of use. On here, I'm a DCM, so adverts are off anyway. Most other places I go to don't use adverts, or I don't particularly care (see: Facebook).

I can't think of a reason to ever have it on on Youtube, especially if you watch certain channels a lot; all you're doing is stopping people from getting money for their content.

The owners of the video get paid from the advertisement money, and the amount is determined by how many people watch your video(and ostensibly see the add)

You might get paid a little extra if someone actually clicks on an add as well.


So unless they also have software which can determine if the watcher has Ad Block up, they'll get paid even if the person watching is using add block.

Youtubers do not get ad-revenue from ad-blocked adverts. A staggeringly large amount of people don't know this, and several people I watch have to restate it every now and then, like here (actual ad-block mentions start at 3:07):



The idea that Youtubers get revenue despite ad-block is a myth, likely made up by people trying to justify themselves blocking the ads.

 Matthew wrote:
But then again, I just started thinking, if I watch YouTubers that aren't that big but try to earn money, am I being immoral?

Immoral? Is there a commandment from God regarding Youtube viewing that I'm not aware of? I'm pretty certain "Thou shalt not block ads" is found nowhere in the bible.

 Soladrin wrote:

 hotsauceman1 wrote:
Why do you think so many are on patreon. Because, even Without adblack, they make people pennies.

Except for the ones that are getting 100k plus views.

Even then....

I read/watched something a while back about music artists and how much money they are making.... Signing contracts with Vevo (Vivo??), Pandora and the like are really, REALLY not good for the band members. The BAND as a whole makes around 1 album's worth of money (12-15 bucks in the US would get you a hard copy CD at most stores), from around 8 million views/listens.... Think about it, Lamb of God, a notable metal band's "official" Vevo video of their song, "Laid to Rest" has been viewed just over 4 million times. Based on that math, the band has made between 6 and 7 bucks. There's 4 dudes in that band, plus theres management fees, taxes, studio times that are probably not free, etc.


I don't know for certain, but I'd imagine that those youtube "celebrities" with their video blogs and crap are probably paid along the same lines as musical acts, where they are making literally less than a penny per view.

Do I respect some people who make videos, etc? Sure, if they are well done and have some effort put into them. (ie, they don't look like some overweight blob living in mom's basement on a webcam)

The problem is also the lack of diversity. I love watching on blip..and they are the same ads over and over. It to to the point I was reciting them.
That is annoying.

I have no problem using adblock.
Some sites (for instance roosterteeth) will slow their services if they detect that you're using adblock, and I really don't mind supporting them by deactivating it on their site.
I'm surprised to see that more websites haven't followed suite and made it more time consuming to use adblock than it is to sit through a commercial.

 Squidmanlolz wrote:
I have no problem using adblock.
Some sites (for instance roosterteeth) will slow their services if they detect that you're using adblock, and I really don't mind supporting them by deactivating it on their site.
I'm surprised to see that more websites haven't followed suite and made it more time consuming to use adblock than it is to sit through a commercial.

Because it's an arms race, they'll attempt it and adblock with a few quick patches can push through such things and make it as if they hadn't tried anything, at least from what I've seen.