Jimquisition: The Adblock Episode

[Ishigami]

I like how everyone admitting to use add block on the escapist gets a warning despite being rather polite and reasonable about it.
Nice way to moderate a topic started by a content creator. Well played Jim? well played.

As for the topic. I think it?s a lost battle that has to be fought regardless.

 

[The Rogue Wolf]

I've seen "User received a warning for this post" enough times in this thread to make me nervous, so I won't say anything about my own dealings with advertisements. I will, however, say this- advertisements, or more accurately the "Wild West" atmosphere around them, are their own greatest problem. Advertisements can overload Internet connections, crash browsers, even install viruses on your computer, and many of the companies who serve these ads (as opposed to those whose sites display them) don't care in the least. The old adage "don't visit suspicious sites" doesn't even help, either, since this has happened to sites as "trustworthy" as Yahoo and The New York Times.

So there are reasons for blocking advertisements other than "I just don't wanna see ads".

 

[Evonisia]

I usually don't mind ads, but ones which typically involve you do tend to annoy me.

I went through phases of Adblock being on and off (right now it's off, so), I don't really like the thought of depriving the content creator of compensation (even if they're getting most of it from various other sources of equal value to me).

 

[medv4380]

I'm pretty sure the fact that I don't have ad blocker, I have flash completely disabled, I never have see ads on the escapist, but Jim will be paid some trivial fraction by me proves Jim is partially wrong.

I do find Jim to be crude and offensive, and he could tone the language down since this site if frequented by minors who's parents should have the entire site outright blocked, but know know how to do that. Same goes for Yatzee. Nanny bot software should defiantly have escapistmagazine.com blocked.

That being said, I hope the escapist and Jim enjoy the Money I pay them to make the site ad and flash free.

 

[Canadamus Prime]

This is going to be difficult to discuss without incurring mod wrath.
I'd love to support the Escapist and it's content creators, but the ads are so obnoxious and annoying. I'm not out to screw anyone over other than the advertisers.

 

[Scy Anide]

You asked nicely so I bought a Pub Club membership 10 minutes ago.. I cannot abide ads but less than 2 bucks a month for a site I read daily is not much to ask for.

HOWEVER, I really don't like all the warnings I've seen so far in this thread (I'm on page 5) - whether it's against the forum rules or not, it really doesn't sit well with me. Just my opinion.

Hmm that's odd, don't have permission to edit my post here.

Just wanted to add that I'm now subbed to the pub club.

I went ahead and subscribed while I was watching the video as well. I wasn't aware the subscription price was that cheap.

 

[SecondPrize]

I like how everyone admitting to use add block on the escapist gets a warning despite being rather polite and reasonable about it.
Nice way to moderate a topic started by a content creator. Well played Jim? well played.

As for the topic. I think it?s a lost battle that has to be fought regardless.

I find it funny that these people seem to be getting dinged for the part of the rules which forbids admitting the use of adblockers, but there have been many who admit to using them but claim to whitelist this site who skate on through without a warning. Warning in this thread is bad enough if Jim actually wanted a productive discussion on this, but doing so while failing to warn those who also violate the rule yet happen to fall on the other side of the argument is just shit.

 

[Crazy Zaul]

I don't get why more sites don't use sponsorship like Rev3 do. There's no way to block and ad that's part of the video and you can skip past it if you already have netflix.

Or if your going to have ads, at least put some effort into making them more watch/listenable like Bombcast and Comedy Button do.

 

[Fiairflair]

Brava, Jim,for adding a reasonable voice to the discussion. All too often content creators spew hate at those who use an ad blocker. If you can afford it, the escapist publishers club is an easy fix to this moral dilemma. $20 a year is affordable to me and The Escapist is my favourite site so I subscribed.

I'd like to see a way for site users across the Internet to indicate those types of ads that might interest them. You would see far fewer ads that would bore or annoy you and you would be giving the site you're on information about the sorts of interests its users have.

 

[Donzacuceron]

Being privileged in one of the most poverty stricken places in the world Easter Europe where people don't usually have the cash to game I get to enjoy all my favorite western sites whit no ads without any adblock apparently people don't advertise here or at least not that much.

 

[Depulcator]

Until the sites I visit take responsibility for the ads on their sites, or fix my computer when an ad screws something up, I see no reason why I should. You need add money and I need a clean computer. And this is the fastest easiest way, for me to do so.

 

[Fdzzaigl]

I turned off adblock just for you!

However, now my noscript is freaking out because the escapist is attempting to do cross-site scripting (even though I otherwise turned my noscript off for the Escapist). Tell or show me what you're doing, don't run all sorts of stuff in the background.

 

[JackyG]

I would pay for the publishers club even if the site had no ads, especially seeing as it took me until halfway through your video to remember that I'm even a member. I have been for three years! I enjoy a lot of the escapist's content so I don't regret a penny, the sub is great. But there is one thing i have to say that I hope isn't too offensive...

Nobody. likes. ads. NOBODY.

It's the reason print is becoming less and less desirable because as their viewer ship gets smaller in lieu of the internet, the ratio of ads to actual content gets worse every day. I pay for the publishers club because I actively want to support the news outlets and content creators that I use regularly. You're right Jim, who can blame those who use adblock? The internet can be a dangerous place. I use it unashamedly because a system which allows me to have a better/safer time on-line with the only sacrifice being that I'm not forced to watch an ad that's longer than the video I was looking for is hard to argue with.

Roosterteeth put it in the video, market their own merchandise in the video.

The Escapist has merch and the publishers club.

Print Journalism has made the switch to digital monthly subs.

Some sites even run donations. Like you said, Adblock is not a bunch of thieves ruining the internet. In my opinion it's a digital version of natural selection.

Before things like adblock everyone was stuck with ads and we all accepted it like it or not. The fact that adblock even bears discussion now that it exists should tell you a lot about what people really want out of their time online.

The main reason so few people online actually use adblock is because they don't know it exists. Gaming sites are probably hit the hardest because it's target audience are the most likely to be computer literate and know the ins and outs of using the web.

What i'm trying to say (and it might sound harsh) is that sites need to adapt to survive. You can't ask your users to inconvenience themselves so your unwanted business model can continue to exist.

It's 2014, do you want to be cable TV or Netflix?

UPDATE: As I posted this I was asked to sign a new terms and conditions agreement stating that I will not advocate the use of adblock in my posts, because you said earlier that amnesty exists on this particular thread this post should be fair but I am perfectly fine with not talking about it in posts that are unrelated or unsanctioned.

It's your right to protect your income but what I said still stands, even if it is only here.

 

[Pebkio]

You know what? I'd like to clear something up that I've seen many users of adblock complain about. The autoplay ads. Yes, I've had to suffer through them before on this site; will probably have to again. Yes, those ads piss me off to no end and have driven me away from the site entirely for weeks at a time. But you guys have adblock on... so how the hell to you know what ads are playing right now? I haven't, personally, run into those intrusive ads in a while.

...the ads don't also seem to be hosted by Adchoices. Ooh, AdChoices: If there's a clear villain in all of this, it's AdChoices.

 

[LetalisK]

I've seen "User received a warning for this post" enough times in this thread to make me nervous, so I won't say anything about my own dealings with advertisements. I will, however, say this- advertisements, or more accurately the "Wild West" atmosphere around them, are their own greatest problem. Advertisements can overload Internet connections, crash browsers, even install viruses on your computer, and many of the companies who serve these ads (as opposed to those whose sites display them) don't care in the least. The old adage "don't visit suspicious sites" doesn't even help, either, since this has happened to sites as "trustworthy" as Yahoo and The New York Times.

So there are reasons for blocking advertisements other than "I just don't wanna see ads".

This is pretty much my feeling as well. I think of ads as the same as DRM: If I have a site of my own and I have advertisements on that site, then the more intrusive and/or broken I make them, the more I can expect people to try to get around them and the less angry I can reasonably be when people do.

The idea that someone is proud to adblock is bonkers, though. No one should be proud. It should be sad resignation at the state of advertising, if anything.

Speaking of gaming the system, I wonder if there is a bot-type program that would artificially increase ad views. For example, you go to the very first Jimquisition. You turn this program on and after one minute or less, well after the ad has played and the video is going, it forwards to the next Jimquisition and waits another minute, rinse and repeat. That's nice bit of ad revenue if a bunch of people just set it to play while they're out getting groceries or something. You could even have a throw-away browser for it too just on the off chance it messes with the browser.

Oh, and really good episode as well.

 

[staika]

Don't worry jim, I am a member of the Pubclub master race. I've already given you my money to not see ads here. Though sometimes I wish they had an upgraded version of the pubclub that gave more benefits cause I would buy that to support you guys more. As for adblock I do run it from time to time when a site's ads just get unbearable or they give out viruses. I destroy viruses for a living and don't want to give myself more work -_-

That said if a site I go to has a paid subscription to get rid of ads I do that more often than not. That way I'm still contributing while not seeing ads. Ad-block is just one of those things that I feel terrible for using (for some sites) but it makes it so much better that I keep it on most of the time.

 

[K12]

I really like the way this episode was done. I (admittedly quite naively) didn't really think about damaging content providers with adblock, I didn't even know that kind of thing was possible to record.

I thought I was just avoiding ads for things that I probably wouldn't buy anyway and maybe annoying some advertising people (and fuck those guys).

I will definitely white list the escapist and will also probably white list every site I visit regularly (unless their advertisements are unbearably intrusive rather than just a mild hindrance).

 

[Sir Thomas Sean Connery]

Really excellent episode, Jim. It's sort of like what Linkara tried to do, but instead of coming of as whiny, demanding and condescending, you were actually very convincing.

Considering what an absolute nightmare this thread is for moderators and users alike with just a tad bit of inconsistency between what is and isn't considered advocacy, I won't mention whether I use Adblock or not. However, I will say you pretty much convinced me to buy a PubClub membership. And it isn't just because I want my glorious images of Sean Connery to be slightly larger.

I'm very interested to see where this whole thing goes in the next 10 years or so. Statistically, the number of people using adblock is increasing. I wonder if the various agencies will try to maintain their current model by, as Jim mentions, having ads actually in the videos or if they'll wake up and actually try something different. Because the thing is, until the ads are literally built into the content, there will always be a way around. I remember when Blip tried to do that thing where you got a 60 second static screen if you had adblock. A day later, people were developing a block for [i/]that[/i]. When pitted against the technological intellect of the entire internet, no company or agency can win, no matter how smart. But lets say we do get obtrusive ads truly built into videos. Will people be apathetic enough to ignore them and watch the video anyway? Or will viewership start to fall off? Again, I'm sort of morbidly fascinated with the possibilities of the future...

On the note of the moderation, the whole thing is a bit of a clusterfuck, no sass intended.. I think it would have been best if this thread could have simply been declared free from the rules about adblock so more relaxed discussion could take place rather than everyone having to step so lightly to avoid "advocating" adblock. Alternatively, there should have been no thread at all.

 

[Calcium]

I've never used adblock, because I know they play a big part in content creators getting paid and websites staying online. When ads on a site irk me, I tend to avoid the site. I basically stopped reading comments on the escapist for a few months though because of the "Oh look at this! A leg infected with some kind of fungus!" nonsense. It was there almost every time I scrolled down. Eventually became desensitised to it...