I read a blog post by Marco Arment on the ethics of ad-blocking, and while I generally enjoyed his post, it was his use of the term "ethics" that gave me pause. Is it really potentially unethical (i.e. morally wrong) to block an ad? I understand the consequence if every internet user were able to block ads 100% effectively might quickly lead to a very different internet, but is that wrong? The other day at a doctor's office, I thumbed through the ads of a People magazine so quickly, I effectively "blocked" them. If anything, the waste (IMHO) of paper in a magazine more ads than article was the offense there. I routinely mute my television and pay attention to some electronic device when commercials come on, and don't consider myself a monster for doing so.
So where is all this rambling going? I guess it's just I seem to be seeing more and more online discussion of the right and wrong, aka "ethics", of ad and tracker blocking, and I'm not seeing a moral dilemma here.
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[–] 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.