[–] SK10 1 point -1 points 0 points (+0|-1) ago
I would say it depends on your personal morals. I won't try to come up with some reason that makes it okay to block ads, it's simply more convenient and gives a better experience. I block ads and don't think twice about it, but others may and that's up to them.
I have no obligation to consume ads on any media, radio, TV, CD, DVD, internet. I have not contracted to view them. I have not agreed to view them. I can avoid viewing them in any way I want. I can turn my head, leave the room, or skip them, or flip channels, or not download them, or prevent them from playing or executing.
I have no moral or ethical obligation to the advertisers. They may exercise their right to free speech.
But, they do have a moral and ethical obligation to me to not interfere with my enjoyment of life, which includes not being bothered by ads, If they do interfere with my pursuit of happiness, by forcing me to watch ads or download them, I will take my business elsewhere.
[–] omegletrollz ago
When watching e-sports in YouTube the ads will make the video duration show when they start, and this will often tell you who is the winner is ahead of time. In this case I consider the ads to be unethical because they are ruining my experience half-way through, to the point I might as well not watch e-sports on YouTube anymore. So I installed an AdBlocker for YouTube.
I don't think ever in my life I've clicked an online ad unless it was by mistake. So would it be unethical for me to block them? Probably not, if I'm not interested in buying the products or even looking at them. Anyway I choose not to install an ad-blocker (but some other extensions I have might affect ads indirectly).
My point is - ads should be relevant and interesting. The fact that people actually want to block them goes to show that they are the opposite - often malicious, unrelated and forced upon you. Would you think that protecting yourself from a thief/robber is unethical? What's the difference, if we're talking in abstract terms?
If you're watching TV it wouldn't be unethical to turn the TV off while the ads are playing and turn it on 2-3 minutes later to see if the show is back on. The advertises are paying for their space there because they want to, you're not doing them any favors and you don't owe them anything.
Would the Internet change a lot if every browser came with a built-in adblock? Maybe? Probably? I'm not even sure but I say bring on the change, maybe it will be a better Internet afterwards.
[–] HowAboutShutUp 1 point -1 points 0 points (+0|-1) ago
My computer, my internet connection, my rules.
If web ads were more like highway billboards (easy to ignore, giving them your attention is totally optional, they're not in the way of what you're doing) than tv commercials made by third rate hucksters with no quality control and rampant fraud and malware, on a tv that runs the same ads on every channel, I might consider not blocking ads. Advertisers don't have a right to advertise to me, and they don't "deserve" my attention, they need to earn it.
Basically fuck them and the horse they rode in on, and if they want to cry about it, fuck them twice over. I hope the pain gets worse as more and more people block ads til they're forced to quit being unreasonable fuckfaces about the way they advertise. Ads should be something that I see when I look away from the content I came for (i.e. ads should be banished to the bottoms and corners of sites), not what I have to make an effort to avoid just to read/see what I actually went to a webpage for.