At present, I don't block advertisements on any platform. If I could, I would block them on mobile, but I don't have a functional solution there. I find mobile and desktop to offer very different experiences with advertisements.
On mobile, I'm hampered in my response to advertisements by the size of the screen and the nature of the UI. I'm also peppered by well meaning but misguided first-party app widgets, where sites constantly try to shuttle me off to their app, which is invariably not available for Windows Phone anyway. This sort of first-party hijacking isn't handled by any of the mobile ad management solutions I have access to. If I could never encounter a page widget, a hijack, or an autoplay advertisement on mobile again, I would happy. I know that a very small portion of the ad revenue which sustains a site comes on mobile, so rejecting those advertisements isn't as damaging.
On desktop, it is simpler. I have a giant screen, I have a mouse, my browsers give me a lot of control. If I run into an autoplay advertisement, I can always hit back, or close the tab. Almost all free sites depend upon advertising because there is no viable alternative - you don't have to work in technology to recognize this, but my own experiences demonstrated this clearly - and on top of that, smaller sites tend to use smaller networks (Project Wonderful) or friendly ad exchanges, which are often far more relevant for you, and much less likely to be generic advertising. I used to find new comics and indie game developers all the time, via banner advertisements on niche sites.
Of course, I recognize that I'm not a typical user. First, I do a lot of browsing from computers running Linux, so I'm less susceptible to malware. Second, I have experience in the technology industry including free services, so I understand where the advertising fits into the business model. Third, I don't consume a lot of video, finding reading to be much more efficient, so I can avoid a lot of new media as well as minimize my Youtube content. I don't block on desktop because the advertisements don't hurt me.
On mobile, I'm hampered in my response to advertisements by the size of the screen and the nature of the UI. I'm also peppered by well meaning but misguided first-party app widgets, where sites constantly try to shuttle me off to their app, which is invariably not available for Windows Phone anyway. This sort of first-party hijacking isn't handled by any of the mobile ad management solutions I have access to. If I could never encounter a page widget, a hijack, or an autoplay advertisement on mobile again, I would happy. I know that a very small portion of the ad revenue which sustains a site comes on mobile, so rejecting those advertisements isn't as damaging.
On desktop, it is simpler. I have a giant screen, I have a mouse, my browsers give me a lot of control. If I run into an autoplay advertisement, I can always hit back, or close the tab. Almost all free sites depend upon advertising because there is no viable alternative - you don't have to work in technology to recognize this, but my own experiences demonstrated this clearly - and on top of that, smaller sites tend to use smaller networks (Project Wonderful) or friendly ad exchanges, which are often far more relevant for you, and much less likely to be generic advertising. I used to find new comics and indie game developers all the time, via banner advertisements on niche sites.
Of course, I recognize that I'm not a typical user. First, I do a lot of browsing from computers running Linux, so I'm less susceptible to malware. Second, I have experience in the technology industry including free services, so I understand where the advertising fits into the business model. Third, I don't consume a lot of video, finding reading to be much more efficient, so I can avoid a lot of new media as well as minimize my Youtube content. I don't block on desktop because the advertisements don't hurt me.
Upvote
0
