Sick of website commercials

Ok, it is bad enough that we have to endure commercials on TV. I am really getting tired of trying to watch a football recap or some other informational video and having to deal with GMC, Geico, Progressive, and every other 15 second commercial that precedes the video I want to watch.

I can't be the only one here...

I'm sick of advertising in general, and yes, those stupid 15 second spots are beyond irritating. The only kind of ads I can tolerate are flyers or ads in papers. Very easy to ignore. Anything with video or sound isn't, especially when it interrupts your program. Why don't advertisers just go back to "this program sponsered by such and such, makers of this product"? For a long time, I've made a point of NOT buying any products if they insist on interrupting my TV viewing. I'll bet I'm not the only one. Take prescription drug ads. They're wrong on so many levels it isn't even funny. I'm amazed doctors haven't complained vehemently about these "ask you doctor about drug x" commercials. I know I would if I had to constantly deal with my customers asking me to use this or that electronic part for something I'm designing for them because they saw a TV ad for it, and just know the part would be perfect. It's no different for doctors. They're not working as drug salespeople. They don't need their patients telling them how to do their job based on misleading TV ads, or wasting time explaining to a patient why the drug they saw advertised just isn't appropriate for them. Really, although I detest all commercials, I would be happy enough if just prescription drug commercials were banned. What's left after that would be mildly tolerable.

In my opinion, advertising has gotten ever more obnoxious because more of the general public has learned to tune it out. It's also reached saturation levels where I think it has largely lost its effectiveness. So why then bother advertising if the increase in profits from sales likely is less than the cost of advertising? Not advertising means you can lower the price of your product, which in turn would generate more sales. You also get good will from not interrupting TV programs or internet surfing.

We sorely need a grass roots movement against advertising. I'm of the opinion that any good product will sell itself by word of mouth. Anything that won't sell without extensive advertising likely isn't good value for the money.

You don't need anything but Firefox and something called 'NoScripts'.

This add-on prevents any scripts from running without you first giving them permission. This means in the beginning, you need to allow CPF and all the other websites you trust to show their content...but this means that all the adds, pop-ups, and other stuff (like google analytics, sidebar adds, and commercials before the movie you want to watch, for examples) associated with these sites are blocked.

Once you get the hang of it and set it up a bit, you can really see only what you want. If there are ads on CPF, I have never seen them...except occasionally in the title bar area. I never see commercials on news sites either.

It's essential cyber gear for today's internet.

obi

Certainly NoScript works well. It has the advantage over Adblock that rather than blocking all ads it blocks domains - that way if there are sites that actually bother hosting their own ads (like our own CPF) those ads show up, whereas the obnoxious third party ads with assorted tracker cookies are blocked.

It will not however work on those annoying pre-video commercials.

In my case I simply stop browsing the sites that actually force you to watch a pointless little ad before each video. Usually if there's something I want to see it'll be on a site like YouTube where they don't have that.

Commercials on tv I don't mind that bad, but commercials on streaming video on the internet? Give me a break. :thumbsdow

mrartillery said:

Commercials on tv I don't mind that bad, but commercials on streaming video on the internet? Give me a break. :thumbsdow

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Yep. Youtube does NOT need to show video ads-they already make a ridiculous amount of money. On a website like hulu, I can understand. They have to pay royalties as well as hosting, and the commercials are actually a lot shorter than on TV (although they have been slowly increasing them).

I get why a lot of sites do it. They have to cover their costs of providing YOU with a FREE service. Admittedly, none of you would actually PAY to use their site or watch their videos. Well... sadly... that is the mentality of most on the internet. And while it is completely FREE for you to use their site, it is not the least bit FREE for them to maintain the site for you to use. So while I don't particularly care to watch a Kotex commercial in between my bubble popping on Pogo Games, it is a very small "price" to pay if I want to continue to use their site for FREE. It's kinda like CPF... none of you HAVE to pay anything at all to use what I provide for you. If I were independantly wealthy and didn't have to worry for the rest of my life about money, I would gladly provide it all to you without subjecting you to advertising. But alas... I'm just a geeky little housewife living on my cop husband's salary. Of course... instead of advertisements, I could simply charge you all a fee to use what I provide for you... but then I suspect a good number of you would simply go away... cuz it wouldn't be FREE anymore... :ironic:

Greta said:

I get why a lot of sites do it. They have to cover their costs of providing YOU with a FREE service. Admittedly, none of you would actually PAY to use their site or watch their videos. Well... sadly... that is the mentality of most on the internet. And while it is completely FREE for you to use their site, it is not the least bit FREE for them to maintain the site for you to use. So while I don't particularly care to watch a Kotex commercial in between my bubble popping on Pogo Games, it is a very small "price" to pay if I want to continue to use their site for FREE. It's kinda like CPF... none of you HAVE to pay anything at all to use what I provide for you. If I were independantly wealthy and didn't have to worry for the rest of my life about money, I would gladly provide it all to you without subjecting you to advertising. But alas... I'm just a geeky little housewife living on my cop husband's salary. Of course... instead of advertisements, I could simply charge you all a fee to use what I provide for you... but then I suspect a good number of you would simply go away... cuz it wouldn't be FREE anymore... :ironic:

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You're not forcing annoying video ads on us every time the page loads. No problem there.

wyager said:

You're not forcing annoying video ads on us every time the page loads. No problem there.

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No, I'm not. Because right now, I'm getting by. But things are picking up around here and I'm having to pay out overage fees on a regular basis now. At this time, it is cheaper to pay those fees than to upgrade but looking at the current trends in usage, it won't be long before that isn't true anymore. I'm not likely to go to video ads at any point, but providing more advertising opportunities to advertisers is something I'm working on for the near future. Somehow I have to make up for those who block the ads and don't donate anything to the site for its upkeep. Those who do help out have my deepest gratitude... :bow: ... but sadly, they are not enough to cover those who just want it all for FREE.

Excellent points. I personally don't use ad blockers (except for pop-ups) for the exact reason you said... it hurts the profit of the site owners and doesn't really help me at all.

My issue is one that mrartillery touched on.

ESPN? They get a bazillion dollars annually from commercials that I watch on my big screen. Discovery? Same thing. Nat Geo? Yup.

All of these have a website and they all slam you with commercials on their streaming vids. When they say "Go to ESPN.com, or Discovery.com" etc, on TV, it is now advertising to you, for their site, which has already been bought and paid for by the commercials you see on TV, endorsements, magazine ads, banner ads on the website etc.

Streaming commercials on internet sites is just a real pain in the arse. I should be able to watch a recap of a running backs performance or whatever else without having to deal with these commercials.

I hope that my statements are not taken as a dig on this forum or any other. This is about typical business greed and not escaping this commercial onslaught that is rising up on many websites. I have no beef with banner ads. Every forum I go to has them. It is needed to pay the bills. I can also choose to look over them. I have no choice but to watch a video commercial.

If your chosen site hosts the commercial, NoScripts won't block it. However, if the commercial is hosted on another domain, it will. So it does work except when the commercial is part of the specific domain you want to view.

obi

As long as there isn't any of those seizure causing flashing ads it's okay with me, otherwise it's immediate block.

The difference between the ads on this forum versus those video commercial clips is that they're targeted to the audience. If I'm on CPF, I don't mind flashlight companies putting up ads. It may even get me to look at/buy a product I'm unware of. Ditto if I'm on a cycling forum with ads for cycling products. Now if CPF stated posting Kotex ads or antidepressant ads, I would feel completely different. On the flip side, ads for bankruptcy lawyers might be semi-appropriate. :green:

TwinBlade said:

All of these have a website and they all slam you with commercials on their streaming vids. When they say "Go to ESPN.com, or Discovery.com" etc, on TV, it is now advertising to you, for their site, which has already been bought and paid for by the commercials you see on TV, endorsements, magazine ads, banner ads on the website etc.

Streaming commercials on internet sites is just a real pain in the arse. I should be able to watch a recap of a running backs performance or whatever else without having to deal with these commercials.

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Couldn't agree more. The only plus side to these ad's in the video is that they are mostly 15 second ad's and not 2-3 minutes, now that would **** you off in a hurry.

Greta said:

Somehow I have to make up for those who block the ads and don't donate anything to the site for its upkeep. Those who do help out have my deepest gratitude... :bow: ... but sadly, they are not enough to cover those who just want it all for FREE.

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I understand the point of needing support in running a quality website, but how does an advertiser doing banners, etc. know if anyone is blocking their ads--requiring you to escalate to more invasive ad revenue? Even when I saw them on any website, I never clicked on them which is my understanding on how large sites justify selling ads (# of clickthroughs). So if people don't click on banner ads to begin with, it seems that it wouldn't matter if those same people blocked them.

LuxLuthor said:

I understand the point of needing support in running a quality website, but how does an advertiser doing banners, etc. know if anyone is blocking their ads--requiring you to escalate to more invasive ad revenue? Even when I saw them on any website, I never clicked on them which is my understanding on how large sites justify selling ads (# of clickthroughs). So if people don't click on banner ads to begin with, it seems that it wouldn't matter if those same people blocked them.

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The point is that someone always gets cheated. How is it fair for 4Sevens or GodFire or whoever pays for your web browsing and they don't get anything out of doing so?

wyager said:

The point is that someone always gets cheated. How is it fair for 4Sevens or GodFire or whoever pays for your web browsing and they don't get anything out of doing so?

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First, this was an informational question that I don't know the answer to with regards to banner ad placement, whether the webmaster or advertisers know who is blocking them or not, or if they get notification of click-throughs from a particular banner ad and pay on that basis. I don't know how it works, and was asking.

Second, I have generously supported CPF for years which is the point of Greta using additional banner ad revenue. I was the one who suggested her offering additional PM's as a win-win benefit for those willing to support CPF. See that little Level 3 Benefactor box below my name? Interestingly, I don't see one under your name.

Third, you can ask 4Sevens how many lights, batteries, etc. I have purchased from them over the years, so be careful who you accuse of cheating from my browsing unless you know your facts and have stepped up to the plate yourself. I have gladly made substantial contributions to the community at CPF in the currency of intentionally destroyed light bulbs at my own expense.

LuxLuthor said:

First, this was an informational question that I don't know the answer to with regards to banner ad placement, whether the webmaster or advertisers know who is blocking them or not, or if they get notification of click-throughs from a particular banner ad and pay on that basis. I don't know how it works, and was asking.

Second, I have generously supported CPF for years which is the point of Greta using additional banner ad revenue. I was the one who suggested her offering additional PM's as a win-win benefit for those willing to support CPF. See that little Level 3 Benefactor box below my name? Interestingly, I don't see one under your name.

Third, you can ask 4Sevens how many lights, batteries, etc. I have purchased from them over the years, so be careful who you accuse of cheating from my browsing unless you know your facts and have stepped up to the plate yourself. I have gladly made substantial contributions to the community at CPF in the currency of intentionally destroyed light bulbs at my own expense.

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Whoa-relax there! I'm not accusing you of anything, I'm just saying why I think ad blockers in general can be unethical. I mean, sure, obviously you've contributed more to CPF than you would have if you just loaded banner ads, but everywhere else on the internet? Maybe some guy from a biking forum supports that forum every day and uses adblockers, but when he ventures over here for advice he's cheating all the companies that advertise here. The same goes for if you were to use adblockers on a site that you don't support through other means. I keep banner ads visible so that companies get what they pay for, and so that "free" websites can continue to exist.

I think some are taking what I started to say, or the initial point I was making, or trying to make, out of context.

I have no issue whatsoever with banner ads. I actually click on a substantial amount of them. I do so ON MY TIME. I choose when I want to click on them. I do not go to a website to get inundated by commercials that I have to sit through and watch. I go to a website to look up something pertaining to my interest at that particular moment.

The point I am making, is I do not have a choice in the matter, to browse something, or watch something without some retard hitting me up about this truck, new car, better insurance or medical discovery regarding male enhancement. If they wanted to put an add at the top or side of the web page, that is fine. I take exception, as I have said, to streaming video commercials. In 5 years, probably sooner, we will have to watch 4 commercials before we ever get to what we want.

Anyone been to a movie lately? It takes 15 minutes just to get through the preview. Not long ago, you got two upcoming movie previews and it was lights low and game on.

I do not run script blockers or any other blocker thingy out there. I am only saying it is just irritating as spit to watch all these commercials. Pretty soon you will go to a website and be forced to watch a commercial even if you are not interested in watching a streaming movie. How many are out there already that give you something commercial related with this TINY little button that you have to click to "go to your intended destination".

That is the point I am making.:thumbsup: