A lot of websites will tell you to turn off your adblocker. This article explains why this is not a good idea.
Most ads nowadays aren't ethical. There are exceptions, like EthicalAds, but these unfortunately aren't mainstream yet.
An unethical ad:
- Can slow down your computer
- Can give your computer malware
- Can cause depression
- Can track you
- Can distract you from what you are trying to do
- Can be a real nuisance
- Can be a popup ad
- Can waste your time in a serious situation
Ads are most often a distraction from what you are trying to look for.
Clickbait ads are a nuisance as well. [This section needs expansion]
Autoplaying video ads are extremely inefficient, significantly slow down pages, make it much harder to use the site, and are very obtrusive. Sites that use these should absolutely pay the price and lose as much ad revenue as possible, if not avoided altogether (lose traffic)
Ads slow down your computer, as they are highly inefficient. Each ad currently being played on a webpage uses inefficient JavaScript, and essentially becomes a background process. The more ads you have on a webpage, the slower the page will become. You will notice a significant speed improvement if you use an adblocker on websites like these.
uBlock origin is also a security feature, and isn't just an adblocker. It will help you avoid malicious sites, and also block most scripts from doing bad things to your computer or web browser.
If you haven't already, please install an extension like uBlock origin. It is a first-line defense (browser anti-virus) for preventing bad scripts from being loaded onto your computer, and can act as a net for scripts, before they hit your actual anti-virus. When a website tells you to turn off your adblocker, and you are using uBlock origin, avoid that site! it is basically saying "Please disable your anti-virus before continuing to our site" which is incredibly sketchy/shady. You can get that content elsewhere on the Internet, and if you can't, it simply isn't worth it.
Porn sites are often credited as a main reason why computers get malware. This is mostly because these sites are deeper in the clear web/not in the clear web, and thus have lesser ad providers. When the state of Google ads is the best that mainstream ads can give, this can give a very stark picture of why ads on sites like Pornhub are much more dangerous than those on a news article or blog post.
Just remember, companies like Google are making money off of people seeing/clicking on the fake download button ads that most often give you really bad malware
Companies like Google should NOT be getting money for slowing down computers and giving them malware
Targeted ads have become common ever since the Google era of the Internet started. They are highly invasive, and often malicious. They sometimes can be used to racially profile you. [This section needs expansion]
Ads can be depressing, and lower your mood. Some ads are designed to anger you, or promote hate speech, which is absolutely not OK. [This section needs expansion]
The Internet is massive. If a website won't let you continue without you disabling your adblocker, or some other inconvenient/malicious way, you can just go to another website. There are probably at least 1000 different websites that can do what that site is doing without being a pest.
The current state of online advertising is incredibly poor and divisive. Most websites are priorized by certain search engines by how many ads they can serve, which can lead to lots of filler text, and an inability to quickly get to the point.
Some web browsers (such as Google Chrome, and most of its Chromium-based derivatives like Opera, Microsoft Edge, Brave, and more) may make it impossible for the user to install an adblocker. Proposals have been put out by Google since 2019. If you haven't already, 
you should stop using Google Chrome
You can turn your adblocker off on sites like Wikipedia, which have a very good privacy and security record, and don't ever have unethical ads or tracking scripts.
Then you (the website operator) should have been using ethical ads, a donation model, or another ethical way of making money. The world is an everchanging place. If you can't adapt, you will fail.
NOT TO BE CONFUSED WITH uBlock, which went rogue, and is a completely different software
Source code/manual install linkMozilla Firefox linkGoogle Chrome linkMicrosoft Edge linkOpera link
I cannot recommend uBlock Origin enough. I block on average 1.2-5 million elements per year, of which I am sure at least 20000-280000 are ads. uBlock Origin also protects me from tracking scripts, and sometimes even bad websites and malware. It is my first line of defense on my computer (the second line of defense being a full-fledged antivirus)
This will be a community-led database on the cons of advertisements, and the subsequent pros of ad blockers. Feel free to contribute to this repository to add more helpful information. You can also fork it, and share it to spread the word, which is desperately needed.
- This list is currently empty, and needs signficant expansion.
www.spanishDict.comLast checked: 2023, May 20th. When I originally tried to use this site, it limited me to 3 pages before I couldn't use the site, and made the claim that ~60% of users turned their adblocker off for this site (the numbers are vague in my mind) I just use other websites now, but upon checking today, I have noted that this anti-adblock message is no longer there, but there is a new payment model. There are also lots of trackers.- This list is incomplete, and needs signficant expansion.
File version: 1 (2023, Saturday, May 20th at 8:55 pm PST)
