So I use AdBlock, like I presume most of you do. I understand most websites need ad revenue to get by, and by using AdBlock I guess they aren't getting anything? Oh well, ads are fucking annoying, if you can kill them that easily, it's going to be done. I really don't realize how many banner ads and whatnot are on the web until I use someone eases computer that doesn't have AdBlock, man it's infested! No, I am not looking for single ladies on Facebook, no I don't want to buy a t-shirt from Urban Dictionary, etc etc etc..... Anyways, we can all go on with our lives now, just a thought I had...
You would think I would use AdBlock, but I've just learned to tune them out over the years. Now commercials on TV and FM radio? That shit I can't stand, step away from both for a year or so and then tune back in. You'll be astounded.
I was just tuning them out for years but started using adblock again. It's definitely much more peaceful this way. And Radio commercials are the worst. I rarely deal with commercials aside from hulu, but 3 minutes of awful commercials while i'm trying to listen to some oldies pisses me off to no end.
I haven't watched TV ads for ages. Had a DVR for two or three years and only really watched shows I'd recorded so I could fast forward the ads, as for radio I only listen to NPR which granted has it's little 'sponsorships' which are really just short less annoying ads, or another non-profit music station. It's weird though, I've been sitting around here in Cape Town for way too long watching TV, and they have SO MANY LESS TV ads. Lots of the shows are American shows, and they all have the commercial breaks in them, but there is no ads in that space, so it just goes black for a second, then comes back and you watch many of the shows straight through, it's wonderful!
I don't use an ad blocker, but I do use noscript, so I'm mostly free of any third-party ads (which are the usual malware vector). For the rest, I'm with the tune-out crowd. I won't stop the ads, since I know the websites I like need the ad money, and the ads are keeping me from having to pay a subscription... which I wouldn't do anyway... I'd like to know what South Africa's media business model is like. Are the stations government run or subsidised? Or do they just need boatloads less cash flow to run them down there?
The web ads that REALLY piss me off are the Flash ones that auto-expand when your mouse cursor gets near them, trying to trick you into clicking on them. Must have pissed a bunch of folks off because I don't see them much anymore.
I remember those extremely stupid Axe antiperspirant ads that nearly crashed my computer, as the sweat drops sprayed OUT of the ad across the entire computer. The banner ads that autoplayed on internet radio sites were also extremely annoying, way back when.
On April Fools Day, Adblock Plus ran pictures of cats in the place of ads. Besides fulfilling my constant desire to look at cats, it also preserved the formatting designed with the ad space in mind. Unfortunately the cats were gone the next day unless you pledged to donate $20 a month. No thanks. So yeah, I'm in camp adblock, except for Hulu because it makes you sit through like three minutes of nothing vs. one minute of ads.
i think the more we block them out, the more ad companies will find a way to shove them down our throats. or maybe it's gonna happen eventually
I just tune them out. Mainly for reasons like RX said. TV ads piss me off to no end though. I have to pause any show just to build an ad fast forward buffer. I swear, there's 15 minutes of ads for every 15 minutes of content.
I think it is pretty much the same as the USA in terms of how it all works. The channel specifically I am thinking about is "Sony Max", think Spike TV or something like that, so I can't imagine the government helps out with funding, but with probably 50% of the ads.
US commerce is probably just more money grubbing than most anywhere else. That and the ammount of total gullibility may have something to do with the amount of ad time here.
Ah. Sony Max is a pay tv channel, replacing the defunct Animax channel. I imagine cable TV costs are much less than that of cable in America, and the subscription fee probably allows for reduced need of ad dollars rands.
Ah, didn't realize that, thanks for the research It does feel like overall stations have fewer ads in general though...
