Why I Filter Ads
Ad filtering has been getting a lot of attention lately, so I thought I'd write an article explaining why I filter ads. However, I'd like to point out to a couple of things right off of the bat. First of all, "speech" isn't equally free; commercial speech doesn't enjoy the same privileges as political speech. Secondly, along with free speech there is an opposite freedom: freedom to ignore.
There are three reasons that I filter online ads.
- They Are Obtrusive. Obtrusive ads are ads that seriously impede what I'm trying to do on a website. Most of the time that means reading some text. Ads that make a page load noticeably slow are obtrusive. Ads that float over what I'm trying to read are obtrusive. Ads that are overly annoying (e.g. animated or have a hideous color scheme) are obtrusive.
- They Are Offensive. There is a reason that erectile disfunction ads are only shown late at night. That is when children are asleep and it is unlikely that they will be exposed to them. Unfortunately, online ads don't always discriminate. I don't want to see ads that are sexually suggestive (yes, I'm looking at you Tru) or violent. I don't want my wife to see those kinds of ads. I definitely don't want my children to see those kinds of ads.
- They Are Intrusive. Ads on the internet are different than ads in other media. Ads on the internet (can) watch you. They can collect information about you: what isp you use, what sites you've been to and at what time, what your interests are, etc. (this is what Doubleclick and others like them do). I'm not ashamed of my web browsing. What I don't like is that they can stalk me and gather information about me without my knowledge or consent.
There are ads I don't block. For the most part, I allow ads that aren't obtrusive, offensive, or intrusive through. However, the only times that I've made purchases due to online ads is when the products were relevant to what I was looking for and directly addressed some need or want. Relevant, unobtrusive ads are how Google has made its money. It seems so simple and obvious I don't understand why more people don't do it.