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Ask HN: How does turning off my ad blocker help?

2 points by mproud ↗ HN
Websites often say things to the effect of “our site looks better with ads, turn your blocker off, you monster” and “please help feed our starving families by not blocking our ads.”

To me, this sounds as if a TV show or station would be asking people not to mute the commercials.

How does me not blocking ads help the “good guy?” Is it just the fact that I could click on an ad, even though I don’t intend to?

2 comments

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JacobAldridge
Don't forget that many ads / networks pay per impression not per click. You are blocking an impression, therefore 'depriving' the "good guy" site owner of income. (That's not judgement, just an answer to OP's question.)
kintamanimatt
TV commercials work differently to ads online and have different goals, mostly driven by the fact that it's vastly harder to measure the effectiveness of a TV ad. Coke, for example, largely advertises because they want brand awareness rather than an immediate action.

IIRC, YouTube ads pay out after the ad has rolled for 15 seconds. I'm under the impression they're some of the only ads that are largely based on impressions rather than a measurable action like a click or referral.

You might not intend to click on an ad, but people do things they don't intend all time. Some forms of online advertising are vastly more effective --- retargeting being a notable one --- and you may find yourself clicking on such an ad to go back to a merchant's website, for which the publisher is paid.