Unblocking User Freedom: the right to use adblockers - FSFE
Unblocking User Freedom: the right to use adblockers - FSFE
Companies increasingly aim to control how users interact with their content online, threatening user freedom. As more companies crack down on browser exten...
In the end, I don't think it matters. People care about accessing what's used most and if they have to watch ads to do so, they will. If "no ads" starts to have a competitive advantage because people are sick and tired of them, then maybe ads will start to die. We're a long way from that though.
What about us who will never want to see any ads ever in our life? Can these companies force fed them to us and we kind of just accept that?
That's for the courts to decide. It's difficult to escape modern life though. Also, banning ads completely is a near impossible task IMO. It would be like banning messaging. Nailing down the definition of an ad would always lead to people finding ways around that.
"An ad is a message aiming to sell a product or service" --> define selling, define product, define service. Once those are defined then there'll be a way around that too. "I'm not aiming to sell a product or service, I'm just informing the public that it exists". Where would you go from there? You can't make the act of informing a person of a product's existence a crime: "Hey bro, I bought this new product and -" "OMG, you're such a criminal for telling me about a product".
Being completely honest, I can deal with ads for free tier level things. I would also be okay with ads on sites for articles, social media, etc.. The main problems just keep coming down to gross levels of tracking, adverts that are formatted to look exactly like real articles/posts and presented as such, and the just overwhelming level/length of them. If I can't read a an article because there are so many auto-play/overlay/massive ads all hitting me. Then I both can't take the site/outlet serious and refuse to bother. It is wild how dramatically different sites look with all or most ads removed. I am normally prepared for more adult sites to just go nuts with ads and shit. But all the mainstream sites are making the pr0n sites seem somehow restrained by comparison.
The streaming services have learned all the wrong lessons from cable/satellite providers. Shows and content are always just some added bonus after the adds even when paying. YT is its own special Hell for both the channels and the viewers. The big win for the internet was that things could be much less filtered and even real compared to TV/radio. But now channels are scared to go seemingly 5mins without bleeping out or blurring things that are the whole point of the upload done. Even if they are being 110% tasteful or telling facts, they have to cheapen the message as if they are trying to sell a CD with "bad words" to Wal-Mart or scared of the FCC fining them.
deleted