Blocking Ads is Killing the Internet
The internet is at a critical crossroads. Ad-blocking software has grown exponentially in the past few years, with AdBlock Plus claiming to have over 200 million downloads of their ad blocking extension for Chrome alone. Ad blockers are popular because they allow users to skip past intrusive pop-up ads and videos that play automatically when they land on a website.
Ads are how content creators earn money online, so if too many people block them then it might become impossible for people who rely on this income stream to continue creating quality work. This blog post will cover some of the reasons why blocking ads is bad for the future of the internet, as well as offer some solutions that may help convince users not to block all advertisements from their web experience.
By blocking ads, Ad Blockers are hurting the websites that they use every day to provide free content and services for their communities. Ad blockers cut into revenue streams of online publishers; this means less money is available to produce great content. Many news sites rely on ad revenue in order to keep themselves open, so if too many readers block ads then they may have to shut down. Ad blockers are also hurting advertisers, who pay publishers every time someone clicks on their ad. If too many people block ads then the prices of online advertisements will go up because advertisers need more specific types of customers in order to make their money back; this could mean that some companies might not be able to afford advertising at all if Ad Blockers continue growing in popularity over the next few years.
Ad Blocking is bad for everyone involved with internet usage and web publishing, so it’s important that we find a way forward where Ad Blockers won’t hurt anyone by allowing users to skip past intrusive ads while still enabling websites and content creators across the Internet economy to earn revenue from their work.