Digitalhead Daily

Ad-blockers can be a great thing to have in your browser to make your internet experience considerably cleaner. Some websites will bombard you with a ton of ads with very little content, or possibly no useful content at all. That’s why Adblock Plus is such a popular add-on for Firefox, Chrome, Opera, and other browsers. However, it can also hurt legitimate websites. Some websites rely heavily on the revenue from advertisements to keep bringing quality content to faithful readers.

Downsides

With so many people using ad-blockers, that means some websites will try to cram in even more ads to be served to the people who don’t use these blockers. It can ruin the experience for these users. On the other hand, there have been some websites that completely block visits from browsers that have an ad-blocker installed, even if it’s not turned on. There are workarounds for sites that do this, but it’s an unnecessary measure on their part, especially when they could be responsible on their part and simply ask that you either turn it off or add an exception for their site if you like it.

Hurting Websites

Many websites rely entirely on these advertisements to fund the hosting and domain costs. They could even use it for making a bit of profit from their hard work of keeping the website fresh with new usable content. This site uses ads for the sole purpose of funding the hosting and domain costs. I’m not looking for much, just enough to keep the website going. That’s why, if you turn off your ad-blocker, you will only see a couple of Google Adsense blocks, one in the sidebar and one in the footer.

Hurting Visitors

Since some websites will simply cram as many ads as possible into every page of their site, it can completely ruin the experience for the visitors. Some ad services will even track users who have loaded their ads. Website owners should keep the ads to a minimum instead of each page having 70%+ coverage in advertisements. Keep it simple, out of the way, and let the content justify the ads. Using trustworthy and reputable advertisement services is an absolute must, as well.

Turn It Off

Not all websites can or will gain your trust, but if you find a website that you think has valuable content, give it a chance as some websites, like Digitalhead Daily, will still adhere to the basic rules of respecting their visitors and keep the ads to a minimum. When you find websites that you like for any reason, take a couple of steps to see if it’s worth adding an exception. Try the site out by disabling your ad-blocker and refresh the page. If the site isn’t loaded to the brim with advertisements, consider adding an exception to allow that site to serve ads. If the ads aren’t obtrusive and you think the content is useful, it is a perfect time to add the exception so the ads will load on future visits so you can help support the website without it costing you anything at all.

Conclusion

The truth is that blocking ads does hurt websites, but on the other hand, some websites aren’t responsible enough to not bombard their visitors. The ones that go to the extreme and block visitors that so much as have an ad-blocker installed are crossing the line entirely. They should convince their visitors to disable their ad-blocker through quality content and responsible use of ads. Then, it’s up to you, the website visitor, to do the right thing and give the site a chance.

Are you a responsible ad-blocker? Do you not use any ad-blocker? Or maybe you think all ads should be abolished? Ads are what keeps the internet as cost-free as it is, so let us know what you have to say in the comments below.