Is using Adblock plus a bad thing?

[Kulthor]

So, I notice a lot of people use adblock plus (it blocks all ads from youtube and other sites)
But I got it for youtube because I got tired of waiting 30 seconds for a video. This is bad for business though no?
Am I at wrong for using this addon?
EDIT: Well the thing I'm scared of what if it gets so popular it shuts youtube down?
Perhaps other sites but If it were to get too popular youtube wouldn't have close to any or no income (Besides them being google and all)

[Evilution]

AdBlock Plus good - long ads before clips on YouTube bad.

Nope sounds like it´s a good thing to use

[Tiglits]

I'll sit through ads on Youtube just 'cause I feel like, what's one minute out of my time? I'm in no rush, sitting here on the computer. Might as well provide someone some revenue. On other sites is just "whatever" 'cause as long as they're not popups, it's all good.

[Kudos]

I remember visiting a website from an indie game developer. I was using adblock at the time, and the banner where the ad would normally be blocked said something like 'Hey you. The cheapskate with the ad blocker. Please don't do this.'
I see nothing wrong with individuals using this to avoid being bombarded with ads they don't want.

[VooDooShuffle]

I use it everywhere. I don't want to see ads.

[PlatedPriest]

well i do know that using it when watching things on Justin.TV can hurt ppls ad revenue.

and i personally watch alot of sc2 players stream so i like to support them by turning off my ad blocker for that

[Pitchkart]

A lot of sites and projects are financed almost entirely by ads.
I'm not going to condemn anyone for using ad blockers, but I personally do not use one, because I know what it's like.

[Deleted]

Of course its a bad thing, most websites are free, but how can they survive without money ? Every work deserve money.

[Chyrch]

If ads weren't completely obnoxious most of the time, I wouldn't bother with Adblock. But they are no longer just banners along the side of a page.

[darkwarrior42]

Generally speaking, I leave adblock on by default. If I frequent a site a great deal, I turn it off. If the ads on the page are irritating enough, I turn it back on (and rarely turn it off again).

I have an extraordinarily low opinion of advertisements... they are inherently biased, and anyone who buys a product or uses a service suggested by an advertisement because of the advertisement needs to seriously re-evaluate their decision making process. That said, I also understand that websites use them to make money and stay active, and punishing the website for the ads being irritating, annoying, biased, and sometimes outright offensive is like shooting the messenger. So I just avoid using any product/company that makes an ad that annoys or offends me, unless circumstances dictate otherwise (as an example, if I were to for some reason be annoyed/offended by a Verizon commercial, I would not switch carriers... my contract runs for a long while yet, and I have never once had a complaint with their service or coverage. On the other hand, I still won't buy Pace's salsa).

Edit: @Sevenbug: Not every website deserves money. Not all work is work I particularly want to endorse. If I leave adblock off, I have to support a website (in the form of generating ad revenue) before I even know what they're doing. Every site I have bookmarked has adblock turned off (though in posting in this thread, I happened to notice that when I updated firefox it didn't carry over some of my settings.... I"ll have to check my desktop later), but I reserve the right not to generate revenue for websites that I don't think are worth it.

Edit2: For absolutely clarity, for ads to be annoying enough for me to turn adblock back off on a site I frequent, they have to actively interfere with my ability to browse the page. Anything that pops up over the content of the site, or that requires interaction to get around, is a good example of that sort of thing. The ad itself being annoying doesn't suffice, so long as it stays confined to its little banner boxes :-P

[Karoc]

Yes, its a bad thing to use it. Websites cost money to maintain, especially the more "free" a website is. Alot of free websites use ads in order to generate revenue (granted some of them only generate revenue for the site when you click on them). Alot of Webcomic artists, for example, use ads and really dislike when people post their comics elsewhere because site visits and ads are how they make their money. They don't mind you linking to the comic's webpage, just not grab an image and put it somewhere else.

If they're like the Aflac ad above the page I'm typing on, its not a problem. But the ones with the videos that cause your page to be taken over if you come within an inch of the ad, and the close button is the size of a grain of sand, then its annoying and a problem. I don't use Adblocker, even though sometimes its annoying not to. Support your webpages people, some people's rent/food may depend on it.

[bas]

nope the ads are the bad things themselves.

it's just a weapon to fight evil ads

[Pitchkart]

nope the ads are the bad things themselves.

it's just a weapon to fight evil ads

While some ads can be downright obnoxious (like popups), how is a banner ad along the side of a web page bad?

[Zof]

Look at it this way, would you rather pay a subscription to look at most of your favourite websites, or suffer a little banner on the right of your page?
The people who own a website are providing you with free content, more often than not, and disabling ads causes them to suffer. The only reason you should ever turn adblock on is if the ads themselves are incredibly obstructive, like a pop-under, or one that plays sounds, or one of those huge, annoying flash ones.
On any rate, I rarely visit webpages with ads that annoying. >.>

[Eliandal]

I use it everywhere. I don't want to see ads.

Hope you're willing to ante up some cash then...if everyone went this route there would be no free websites - like ohh...this one !

[Kulthor]

Thank you guys very much for your opinions.
I have now disabled Adblock plus for when I enter MMO champion.
Nice how it's customizable like that.
Edit: Still i will be using it for other sites I'm still not sure if I should use it for youtube or not because watching those damned 1 minute ads suck.

[Tziva]

I use Adblock, but I turn it off on sites I frequent and want to financially support. By default, though, it's on.

[Myrrar]

Generally speaking, I leave adblock on by default. If I frequent a site a great deal, I turn it off. If the ads on the page are irritating enough, I turn it back on (and rarely turn it off again).

This is what I do. Once I use a site often and know the ads will probably be safe I disable it for that site. Most sites can survive without ad revenue, but they wont be willing/able to put out anything new or exciting.

Kind of like MMO-C. I highly doubt mmoc would go offline if people use adblock, but I doubt curse would keep paying devs to keep updating it, putting out new content, and giving it as much space/resources. Kind of like youtube. All of that space they use isn't free.

Money on big sites actually goes to useful things, not just lining their pockets

[shocktopuslol]

i hate advertising so i always use privoxy (chrome version of adblock plus).
and no i do not feel that it is bad because for every person like me there are 1000s of people with no idea what an adblocker is.

[Arcilux]

I never click on ads anyway, so using ad blocker plus is just an aesthetic for me. For some sites where the ads are off to the side and not intrusive, I'll leave my ad blocker off and if an ad catches my eye I'll click on it, but for sites where the ads are distracting, flash ads, have sounds, pop ups, pop unders, you must watch this ad to go to the site etc. I refuse on principle.