Why Using an Ad Blocker Can be a Bad Idea

Ad Blocking is getting to be a common sport on the internet. Now there are some legitimate uses for an ad blocker. Some ad companies resort to downright harassment when serving their ads using annoying pop ups, flying ads, floating ads and the like. Blocking these types of ads are not a problem. Using an ad blocker though to block all ads on a site including text ads, banner ads, etc is wrong and here's why.

Free Information makes the Internet Valuable.

Do you like getting free news from major news sources? How about the latest weather for free? Do you like being able to use a search engine to find information on a topic that interests you? How do you think the companies that run these services can afford to give this information away for free? It's because they charge advertisers who display advertisements on pages where this free information is found.

How useful would the Internet be if it was Ad Free?

Without ads, there would be much less commercial business transacted online. Would it eliminate it completely? No. But there would be much less of it. Now, some people think that would be a good thing but stop to think about it. If you take away all free news sources like CNN, NY Times, and all major news sources, then take away all Travel sites, then cut the number of free information websites on almost any topic by 95% and what kind of internet are we left with?

Would everything be a disaster on the Internet without ads?

Having email being spam free would be nice but blocking spam is a lot less precise than using an ad blocker to eliminate all kinds of ads. If we had no pop ups to worry about the Internet would be nicer, but most people already get this with the latest browsers.

I am all in favor of eliminating intrusive advertising methods like pop ups and spyware but I think the whole idea of blocking all ads is short sighted. Tools certainly exist to block almost all forms of advertising online. I would urge you though to think twice before you activate ad blocking on all forms of advertising.

Non intrusive, in-context advertising can actually help you

I can't count the number of times I've been on a web page that didn't have exactly what I was looking for but an ad on that site did. Same thing when searching Google. Sometimes the listings are not relevant to the kind of information I'm after but the ads on the side or the top are.

Is all advertising evil? Of course not. Many forms of advertising can actually be helpful. Next time you're thinking about blocking that text or banner ad, think twice. You may need access to an advertiser in the future. What's the harm in that?

Joe Duchesne is the owner of Yowling.com. Yowling is a web hosting company that offers a web site builder that allows you to create a professional website in no time flat. Reprint freely as long as you keep the live keyword rich link found in this resource box.

---

What?s the Difference Between Plasma TVs and LCD TVs?

Plasma and LCD TVs are the latest trend in home... Read More

Uninstall Windows Media Player 10 and Start Enjoying Your Media Again

Windows Media Player 10 has been full of bugs from... Read More

Toshiba Wins Hollywood Support for the HD DVD format

What led them to this choice, as all four studios... Read More

Basic Computer Thermodynamics

That desk in front of you and everything else around... Read More

What Exactly are Screensavers? - part I

After reading this good article you will know some important... Read More

Flash Memory, Part I: MMC and SD

MMC and SDFlash memory is available in so many formats... Read More

Refurbished Computers on the Internet

What is a Refurbished Computer?Refurbished Computers. Remanufactured Computers. Reconditioned Computers.... Read More

How Does My PC Get Hot

There are many sources of heat that can raise the... Read More

Cisco Certification: The Most Important Cisco Study Youll Ever Do

All of us are familiar with the pyramids of Egypt.... Read More

The Benefits of the New Firefox Browser

You probably heard of the new Firefox browser version 1.0... Read More

EDTV vs HDTV

Confused by EDTV vs HDTV? We don't blame you. The... Read More

Looking For an MP3 Player?

If you don't have an mp3 player, and even if... Read More

Plasma TV vs LCD TV

For those seeking to buy their first flat panel TV... Read More

Help, I Need a New HDTV! (Part 1 of 5)

Feeling overwhelmed in selecting a new TV? With all the... Read More

Desktop Security Software Risks - Part 2

This is the third in a series of articles highlighting... Read More

Wordpress Plugins

Maybe you always wanted a feature that hasn't been available... Read More

Compare MP3 Players for the Coolest Features and Sweetest Deals

How can you compare mp3 players to be sure you're... Read More

4 Easy Ways to Speed Up A Sluggish PC

Computers are supposed to speed up our productivity?to help us... Read More

Advantages and Guidelines of Automated Testing

"Automated Testing" is automating the manual testing process currently in... Read More

Faster Browsing Tips

IF WE say that it was mainly because of the... Read More

Get Ahead When You Build Your Own Computer

If you've been kicking around the idea of building your... Read More

Review of Rio MP3 Players

Below you will find some useful information and comments about... Read More

Troubleshooting Computer Freeze (Lockup) Problems

How familiar does the following sound? Your computer was working... Read More

Are You Putting Off Productivity?

I recently took a good look at what was keeping... Read More

Internet Explorer Shortcuts for Mouse-o-phobes

If you're like me, you occasionally find the ubiquitous mouse... Read More

Help, I Need a New HDTV! (Part 3 of 5)

Feeling overwhelmed in selecting a new TV? With all the... Read More

Cache In Your Chips And Get A Bus!

Computer related terminology could sometimes be daunting to newcomers. These... Read More

Apache, MySQL & PHP for Windows

Apache, MysQL and PHP for Windows could be a nice... Read More

Help, I Need a New HDTV! (Part 4 of 5)

Feeling overwhelmed in selecting a new TV? With all the... Read More

Printing Multiple Copies of Photos

I do a holiday letter every year and send them... Read More

Home Video? Bring it On

So you got yourself a digital camcorder. If you want... Read More

How to Protect your PC from Spyware in the Cyber Age

Wouldn't you be shocked to find that your personal sensitive... Read More

What Does That Error Message Really Mean?

Surf the 'Net for about 10 minutes and chances rate... Read More