{"id":33282,"date":"2025-07-02T18:44:10","date_gmt":"2025-07-02T18:44:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/33282\/"},"modified":"2025-07-02T18:44:10","modified_gmt":"2025-07-02T18:44:10","slug":"peter-griffin-should-you-use-ad-blockers-when-you-browse-the-internet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/33282\/","title":{"rendered":"Peter Griffin: Should you use ad blockers when you browse the internet?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p data-test-ui=\"figure__caption\">Many online advertisements are tracking devices in disguise, gathering data about your every move online. Photo \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">To block or not to block? That is the question. Not since the invention of the mute button has humanity wielded such a powerful tool against the relentless barrage of \u201cYou won\u2019t believe what happens next\u201d and \u201cLocal singles in your area \u2013 click here!\u201d adverts.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">\n         I\u2019ve been using ad-blocking<br \/>\n         software for years to keep pop-ups and autoplaying videos at bay. The internet, once a minefield of flashing banners and \u201cbefore you go!\u201d pop-ups, suddenly became a serene, distraction-free paradise thanks to ad-blocking.\n        <\/p>\n<p class=\"dwFYXPMApfkqbZUTH\" style=\"display:none\">Ad blockers don\u2019t just clear the clutter from websites, they offer a layer of privacy protection. Many ads are really just tracking devices in disguise, gathering data about your every move online. With an ad blocker, you\u2019re not just blocking ads \u2013 you\u2019re erasing the digital footprints that advertising networks use to target you with more adverts.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dwFYXPMApfkqbZUTH\" style=\"display:none\">Some ad blockers even protect against malware and crypto-jacking, so you can browse safely without your computer secretly mining bitcoin for some shady website. Then there\u2019s the speed. Websites load faster, your battery lasts longer, and your sanity remains intact.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dwFYXPMApfkqbZUTH\" style=\"display:none\">So far, so good. But here\u2019s the other side of ad blocking \u2013 the website you love visiting may well depend on those annoying adverts to serve up the content you keep coming back for. As Google, Meta, TikTok and others have claimed the lion\u2019s share of digital advertising, independent site owners have had to resort to clickbait advertising tactics to yield results.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dwFYXPMApfkqbZUTH\" style=\"display:none\">When you block ads, you\u2019re essentially freeloading, like sneaking into a movie theatre and then complaining about the lack of popcorn. The result? Paywalls are popping up across the internet. A bewildering array of subscription models has appeared. The dreaded \u201cYou\u2019ve reached your free article limit for the month\u201d message, which is the internet\u2019s way of saying, \u201cPay up or get out\u201d, now greets you on news websites.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dwFYXPMApfkqbZUTH\" style=\"display:none\">This is creating a digital divide between those who can afford subscriptions and those who can\u2019t, limiting access to information and knowledge for many. Suddenly, the free internet isn\u2019t so free any more.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dwFYXPMApfkqbZUTH\" style=\"display:none\">Recently, a rumour went viral that YouTube, which makes most of its revenue from selling advertising, was slowing down its website for users employing ad blockers to strip the ads from its videos. Its owner Google denied the charge. But the internet giant has waged a decades-long war on ad blockers, arguing that they harm the video makers who publish on YouTube and receive a share of advertising revenue for their efforts.<\/p>\n<p>Advertisement<a class=\"ad__link\" data-test-ui=\"ad__link\" href=\"https:\/\/advertising.nzme.co.nz\/\" data-ad-env=\"both\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Advertise with NZME.<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"dwFYXPMApfkqbZUTH\" style=\"display:none\">YouTube has a point and offers an imperfect solution. As a YouTube Premium subscriber, I pay a monthly fee to have the adverts stripped from videos. Occasionally when I use the site without being logged into my account, I see what the ad-supported version of YouTube is like \u2013 an unwatchable mess of adverts interrupting the videos.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dwFYXPMApfkqbZUTH\" style=\"display:none\">The answer is for website owners to offer the option of paying for an ad-free experience. That doesn\u2019t help the people who can\u2019t afford to pay. But in the interests of a decent internet, everyone has to do their bit \u2013 even if that bit is occasionally watching a banner ad for \u201camazing deals on socks you didn\u2019t know you needed\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Discover more<\/p>\n<p class=\"dwFYXPMApfkqbZUTH\" style=\"display:none\">Here\u2019s the best way for website owners to avoid that category of users resorting to ad blockers \u2013 quit showing terrible, disruptive adverts. Not all ads are bad. Some of them are entertaining and serve up things we actually want. A more thoughtful approach to what web designers call the \u201cuser experience\u201d would encourage better integration of ads and give us ways to support great websites.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dwFYXPMApfkqbZUTH\" style=\"display:none\">In the meantime, I\u2019m blocking obnoxious, intrusive ads, but whitelisting sites I love and trust. Occasionally I\u2019ll also shell out for the ad-free experience. <\/p>\n<p><a class=\"article__print-button\" aria-label=\"print\"><\/a><a href=\"#\" class=\"flex cursor-pointer items-center gap-1.5 text-black\" data-test-ui=\"social-link--bookmark-below\" aria-label=\"bookmark\" id=\"social-link--bookmark-below\">Save<\/a><\/p>\n<ul class=\"m-0\">Share this article<\/p>\n<p class=\"mx-4 mt-2.5 text-xs font-normal leading-5 text-sys-text-premium\">Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read.<\/p>\n<li class=\"m-0 list-none \">Copy Link<\/li>\n<li class=\"m-0 list-none \">Email<\/li>\n<li class=\"m-0 list-none \">Facebook<\/li>\n<li class=\"m-0 list-none\">Twitter\/X<\/li>\n<li class=\"m-0 list-none\">LinkedIn<\/li>\n<li class=\"m-0 list-none\">Reddit<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Many online advertisements are tracking devices in disguise, gathering data about your every move online. Photo \/ Getty&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":33283,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[27784,27804,199,7910,27798,11817,7611,27785,27787,27791,27802,27783,27800,27803,27792,712,27789,425,27790,16497,27782,27795,5210,27797,1387,27788,27801,27794,158,4058,448,27796,67,132,68,20175,640,27786,27793,27799,14271,9811],"class_list":{"0":"post-33282","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-internet","8":"tag-ad","9":"tag-adverts","10":"tag-against","11":"tag-area","12":"tag-barrage","13":"tag-believe","14":"tag-block","15":"tag-blockers","16":"tag-browse","17":"tag-button","18":"tag-click","19":"tag-griffin","20":"tag-happens","21":"tag-here","22":"tag-humanity","23":"tag-internet","24":"tag-invention","25":"tag-local","26":"tag-mute","27":"tag-next","28":"tag-peter","29":"tag-powerful","30":"tag-question","31":"tag-relentless","32":"tag-should","33":"tag-since","34":"tag-singles","35":"tag-such","36":"tag-technology","37":"tag-that","38":"tag-the","39":"tag-tool","40":"tag-united-states","41":"tag-unitedstates","42":"tag-us","43":"tag-use","44":"tag-what","45":"tag-when","46":"tag-wielded","47":"tag-wont","48":"tag-you","49":"tag-your"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114785121996031273","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33282","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33282"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33282\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33283"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33282"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33282"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33282"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}