Ads are pretty much everywhere nowadays, and many people who browse online content find them annoying. Moreover, there is a certain type of content where ads just feel out of place and really ruin the whole experience. Take ASMR videos for example, if you are playing the video in order to fall asleep and once you are 20 minutes in, the ad commercial starts blasting through your speakers then the whole video loses its point.
One of the most widely used browser extensions is AdBlocker, and much like its name suggests it prevents the ads from being loaded on a site. However, even if this extension improves your experience while enjoying content, it’s not ethical let’s say. So here we will explore the pros and cons of using AdBlocker.
No one should work for free
Well, let’s start with one of the downsides and that is denying someone a chance to earn money. Typically sites that don’t sell anything, and just focus on providing informative or entertaining content, get their revenue from ads. Usually, these platforms allow you to get an ad-free experience by paying a subscription, but with AdBlock, you completely bypass this option.
Luckily a lot of these sites also have means of detecting ad-block, and they request you turn it off prior to getting access to the content.
Moreover, the site where AdBlock is mostly used is YouTube, and no one really needs to defend a multi-billion dollar company. Still, there are a lot of small businesses and content creators who are trying to make it in the world, and AdBlock is presenting a problem for them.
Ads can be annoying and potentially dangerous
As mentioned ads can be extremely annoying and in some cases really intrusive. Rarely will someone have a problem with ad lite experience, but ads that pop up and prevent you from even watching the video or reading a blog post, are going too far. Moreover, there are ads that can contain malware that harms users’ PCs and steals sensitive information. Because there are these malicious ads, the use of ad blockers is completely justified.
The main issue with the AdBlocker extension is that you can’t really filter what ads can appear and what ads should be blocked. It’s either blocking all of them or allowing all of them to pop up. Luckily, you do get to choose where you can suspend adblocker. In other words, there are trusted websites out there that do not work with deceptive advertisements. So, it’s perfectly fine to pause AdBlocker on those sites.
Finally, you also need to make sure your children are not exposed to commercials that are inappropriate for them. A lot of sites promote gambling, without filtering users that are below 18. AdBlocker can ensure those ads do not appear on the sites you kids are browsing. This only means that the extension is necessary and can do more good than harm.