Jimquisition: The Adblock Episode

[Squintsalot]

It's the exact same point this very site makes about game publishers; no one is automatically entitled to your money. That is what telling you not to add block is; it's being entitled.

The problem with advertising is it is one sided. To an advertiser you are a piece of meat. You gain nothing from turning on adverts. If advertising is being disabled by a lot of people it's because they find it objectionable, the fact that sites use advertising as their primary revenue stream is tangential and not really your problem.

It reminds me of the music industry bitching about the fact that digital downloads now exist. Advertising is an outmoded revenue model if people find it so horrible they block it universally. If you can't get enough ad dollars, for whatever reason, that is because your monitization model is broken. You either adapt or die. The market does not care which.

That is crucially where advertisement models fail; the market is rejecting them. As cold and impersonal as it sounds you either accept this fact or fade away. It's nothing personal. Addblock is legal, more convenient and safer. Like it or not this is the way the internet is going.

I agree wholeheartedly with everything you've written here.

Videos like this feel like they miss the most important point - content creators should be looking at ways to keep themselves afloat, other than "inconveniencing" your audience and then saying you're sorry. It would be a more interesting, non-polarizing discussion, I think.

 

[Xan Krieger]

Never used adblock myself so my solution when an ad is horrible or browser destroying is to go to the tech team. I remember an ad that was a collection of links and one of them involved an image of a botfly coming out of a cat. If you don't know what a botfly is I envy you. For those of you who do know what one is you know why I went right to the tech team. Sure enough before the day was over I wasn't seeing that ad anymore.

 

[Squintsalot]

I sort of did myself with the first post I wrote in this thread, #348 page 10, but uh, I have a number of warnings already and didn't want to push my luck. Consider it a light version of what you wrote veiled in niceties and less to the point. No reaction to it yet.
It might be that there's not much else to say than what you did. I certainly have nothing to add on that point, since you nailed it so well. Any attempt to do so wouldn't really do it justice and while people can apply all the sympathy and valid concerns of content creators they want, it doesn't change the fact that "we aren't friends" with them, as you so eloquently put it.

You made a very good point, actually. Finding better revenue sources is exactly what content creators should be talking about.

 

[Alar]

If I didn't already pay the yearly subscription (and I have since it came out), I would turn it off for the Escapist. But I do, so it isn't an issue for me. I throw some scratch in the direction of those I support, be it through purchasing merchandise, subscription-based content, or disabling adblock. But I still use adblock for 90% of the sites I go to.

 

[daxterx2005]

I hope someone sends Jim a Xenomorph mask.

 

[Mikeyfell]

12 ads on the page your video is on plus a banner pushing the payed subscription to the Escapist
one of those ads had sound that I could not stop from playing so I had to pause your video and wait for the ad to run it's course after watching the un-skippable ad before I could even watch your video (Not an ad for the LRR show Un-skippable mind you)

Sometimes, The Escapist runs so many ads at a time that it literally crashes my browser.

Then The Escapist has that rule that says you're not even allowed to talk about Fight Club [footnote]Ad Blockers[/footnote]

There are mouse-over ads that are really obtrusive, in fact I've accidentally moused over the one at the bottom of this page twice already (Whoops make that 3 times). And I remember back in the good ol' days when the ads were actually broken so they wouldn't scroll down the page as the comment text box grew so there would be an ad covering up what I was trying to type.
Sometimes the video ads that play before a video take longer to buffer than the actual video I came here to watch.

And every Captha I attempt to type (Which has an ad attached to it) always fails to register the first time (100% of the time) sometimes I have to "Retry" an Ad-captha 5 times before it'll post my damn forum comment, even though I'm absolutely sure I correctly typed the captha every one of those times.

So as you can plainly tell I do not ad block this website (Or any other site for that matter, because this is the worst site I go to when it comes to advertizing, and I would certainly start here if I ever determined that my convenience was worth more than contributing to the compensation of the content creators I watch regularly, which I won't)

So for the record, I'm glad that Jim doesn't see using ad blockers as some sort of crime or personal insult to him.
And hopefully saying this won't get me shat upon by moderator wrath but I feel sorry for the people who turned off their ad blocks for today, I couldn't imagine how it would feel jumping from an Escapist that ran properly to this. I mean assuming that turning off ads would even make the site run smoother, I don't know if that's even the case I've never ad blocked any site.

 

[Mikeyfell]

Why not just assume that people are going to block ads to begin with and then work around that?

Instead of saying "adblocking is bad so don't adblock" you should say "please whitelist us - here's why you should".

That's exactly what the video said...
Are you just reiterating what Jim said for the benefit of people who came into the comment section to wait for one of the pre-video ads to finish playing?

 

[Karadalis]

Well im only using the "no autoplay" function of chrome since i got really tired of finding the one tab where the one obnoxiously loud commercial was playing and starting itselfe up every 5 minutes or so while im browsing.

Im not entirely sure if that counts as an addblock since i do still see all the static adds.. but yeah thats my only problem with the adds.. its that they autoplay and are obnoxiously loud.. louder then the vids i came here to watch.

I dont have a problem with adds before videos or even banners thought they are more like commercials and i dont mind them on TV. Heck after all i put up with youtubes 30 sec adds before most videos.

But i do like my eardrums intact so there you go.. also more protection from addware and other undesirables that comes with letting adds play themselves automatically.

You see the Escapist doesnt guarantee me that their adds are free of malware and addware so i cannot guarantee you to just enable autoplay again.

 

[LordMonty]

I suffer the adds on this site, but seriously the noise(it really ain't selling me stuff whne i can'y work out where the picture relating to the image is) they make some times they are really loud...

Although on that subject its funny when you open like 10 pages at once when i'm just catching up on a day or two of news posts and videos and they then all go off together its a choire of gibber echoing in my ears... most amusing on some level so i just turn the sound off read the written posts then move onto the videos(like this one) after the sound attack finishes.

But I do feel for you as not getting paid for hard work is something most people should be able to conect and sympathise with. I think Yeats said it best...

But I, being poor, have only my dreams; I have spread my dreams under your feet; Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.

You are forever bound to the whimsy of the mad old interwebs Jimmy boy. Keep making me chuckle and engaing me with your twisted wisdom and i'll keep tuning in from old blighty to watch your and your damnable adds.

 

[Plunkies]

Looks like the mods are out in force for this thread. What vigilant guardians of the community you all are! I'm sure the act of banning people for admitting to using Adblock has drastically decreased the number of Adblock users on your site

I love how Jim's humble position of respect and understanding is instantly undermined by the moderators. I had no idea what the rules were regarding this topic but I am not the least bit surprised. Hypothetically speaking, if Jim had convinced me of anything it would have been immediately undone upon viewing the comments and seeing how people are treated here.

 

[Nurb]

Do content creators in turn allow all ads to play on their recording devices for TV or on video discs without fast-forwarding or skipping them?

Also, I've been on the internet since the mid 90's and I can honestly say I have never intentionally clicked on an ad. Ever. Does the mere act of me seeing it with my eyes register on the websites that give creators money?

 

[Neta]

Why not just assume that people are going to block ads to begin with and then work around that?

Instead of saying "adblocking is bad so don't adblock" you should say "please whitelist us - here's why you should".

That's exactly what the video said...
Are you just reiterating what Jim said for the benefit of people who came into the comment section to wait for one of the pre-video ads to finish playing?

More like for the benefit of the admins and the moderators who are handing out warnings as if they're candy at Halloween.

 

[Ipsen]

But I will say now this entire thread is like walking in a minefield for most of the people posting here. This is a sensitive topic like Piracy for obvious reasons. It can and will damage the Escapists reputation which will cut into profits in the long run which is understandable.

Why does this situation feel like this Escapist blow-up is turning microcosmic of issues in the game industry? Game companies largely ignoring their customer bases to serve shareholders, Escapist staff largely deterring their community to serve[footnote]After several pages of browsing and hawt mod action, I don't know how else to put it... Really, what pull do you have in these ad deals, Escapist???[/footnote] their ad companies...

I almost feel less welcome here. I come here to have mind for the content, and by extention the content creators, but if their minds are on ad revenues?

...Should I show myself out?

Perhaps I'm still under delusion, but I still see the Escapist as a community. I would like to hear from some other leaders on the site on this issue (currently browsing Podcats). Clearly. Even just making the line-drawing statement that, as Squintsalot put it, 'we want more money, watch our ads' would be at least clarifying.

 

[geldonyetich]

Sure, I'll whitelist Escapist, fair enough. But, just so you know, if I get a single annoying popup or advertisement that goes out of its way to annoy me by gouging me with a sound bite or something, that whitelist entry is going away. (If it comes down to that, I still like to pay content producers who make stuff I like, so maybe I'll opt for the $20 subscription or something, instead.)

You didn't have to twist my arm much... I pretty much just forgot about the fact I was running ABP and NoScript and this would affect The Escapist. I'm not targeting anyone, certainly not Jim Sterling, certainly not The Escapist. Rather, I feel forced to use these plugins because some advertisers, somewhere on the Internet, have absolutely no scruples, and it's no exaggeration to say I risk loading my computer down with spyware or having my browsing experience disrupted by advertisement methods that border on hijacking (and sometimes literally are hijacking). It's a shame that good sites like The Escapist end up on the blacklist by default because I have a pretty good reason to feel like I need to protect myself from the Internet in general.

There aught to be a law; pass a law that we can find these jerks who think spyware and hijacking is okay in the name of advertising, then fund enough enforcement to hunt them across international borders, and jail them. Then, and only then, will the world be a place in which I can disable ABP and NoScript entirely for all the sites I browse on in the Internet.

 

[Abomination]

If your site has adds that are popups or auto-play music at me I will add-block the site.

I used to add-block the Escapist 4 or so months ago but then I realized that doing so results in stuff getting pulled.

There's a fine line between unintrusive adds and revenue but it isn't my job to walk that line - it's the Escapist's.

 

[PMAvers]

Oh, hey, I had adblock installed to block some elements on a different website that were crashing my browser. Didn't realize it was actually also blocking stuff on the Escapist.

Whoopsadoodle.

And now I've seen that Jeep ad that people are complaining about. Jegus. Could turn it back on... but I figure I watch enough stuff over here that it's time to Pub Club.

EDIT: And now a Pub Club member for a year.

 

[aliasCrucial]

This video reminded me that you can pay a $20 yearly sub to Escapist for an ad free experience which I now do. Well worth it IMHO and I get to support instead of mooch. Escapist should bring more attention to that site feature.

 

[Dr. Crawver]

You make a lot of good and valid points Jim, and I am so glad you came at this from a considerate angle.

It's just unfortunate that some of the worst ads you mentioned, the escapist run. I wouldn't dare take my adblock of as my laptop is pretty temperamental as it is, and I don't want to run the risk of major crashes, or even need of repairs, in order to go through that level of pain just to make sure you get the extra 10p (or however much it is) from just me watching adds.

That said, two years ago I actually won free membership for 3 months, before I had adblock, and the difference was astounding. While I had never properly thought about it before now (almost every other content creator I've seen has just gone "Urrr, adblock is bad and you are a bad person for using it, get off my channel", which turns me off the point entirely, not make me want to disable adblock.), I can say I actually am probably going to get some publishers club sub again, and pay for it this time. I would do it here and now, but as it stands, I've actually been subject to internet fraud, cleaning out my bank account (I have no idea how they got my details, for all I know it could even be adds with viruses in them that did it). I'm resolving that issue, but once that is done, I will try and get me some subscription ASAP.

Because honestly Jim, I think you are the most important personality on the internet as of now. The only one who not only is willing to grapple the hard and important topics, but does so with gusto because you know it's right. I can remember watching the first episode of the Jimquisition here when you first arrived, and giving you maybe 2 months before I expected you to go away. You were frankly awful. But over the years you've grown into something that not only I feel everyone can enjoy, but something we all need now. And I do say with no level of irony, Thank god for Jim Sterling.

 

[Greyknight1024]

Why does it feel like Jim set up a trap "that which shall not be named" for anyone using said thing that shall not be discussed? Calling it now Jim just went full SIINNDRRIII on us to flush out any users of said rule breaking offense. Well played Jim well played.

 

[loc978]

...I was expecting a shitstorm, but this...

Anyway, I just thought it was funny... I've been getting weird bugs with the ads on this site (for the record, I grin and bear it. Them's the rules. I do, however, try to avoid coming here while running Windows. Linux is pretty fireproof to adware), and on this of all videos I got simultaneous playback of the Jeep ad and the anime ad... which crashed Flash player and needed to be reloaded.

Still, you guys are doing better in that department than Viacom.