Technology

This is 100% the fault of shitty advertisers spamming us with literal scams, malware, and spyware.

Jeez, don't report on it. Now there's going to be an even bigger crackdown on them.

Yeah, can you take a "Veteran cybersecurity expert" who doesn't generally use an adblocker serious?

Some folks still raw dog the net? Wrap that shit up

Does anyone ever actually click on an ad? Like "hey thats cool I wanna check it out/buy it right here right now"?

I have adblockers active everywhere and only disable then somtimes for specific sites that really don't work otherwise, but even if the unlikely case would come up that something is interesting I would just look it up separately? Mostly I just turn a blind eye on them anyway, but just wondering, some people gotta really click/buy from these ads? It just seems so surreal to me..

Highly unlikely, but hopefully one day.

Ad blocker is kind of a sad name for a content/spam filter, a vital security tool, but that's what we got. Especially since browsers naively didn't include filtering and block lists by default and they only became common as add-ons.

I thought the text said "stop AIDS" but practically the same thing.

and among advertising, programming, and security professionals that fraction is more like two-thirds to three-quarters

Leopards, face etc

I dislike the fact that "ads" can also include crapware being injected into my computer (viruses, tracking cookies, mysterious scripts, etc).

Says a company that makes an ad blocker

Theres people who dont use ad blocker? Do they also not use the internet?

I am surprised the reason for blocking ads doessn't include making sites somewhat readable. I guess faster loading could be it? But generally it's more of a layout problem than a bandwidth one.

I tend to not use adblockers, or when I do it's on a black list system for worst offenders rather than by default. However, I absolutely refuse tracking, and if it's the only option I go to firefox reader mode immediately.

The usual false dichotomy of "personalised ads or you're killing us!" is not acceptable.

This is the best summary I could come up with:

More than half of Americans are using ad blocking software, and among advertising, programming, and security professionals that fraction is more like two-thirds to three-quarters.

More striking are the figures cited for technically savvy users who have worked at least five years in their respective fields – veteran advertisers, programmers, and cybersecurity experts.

"People who know how the internet works – because they work as developers or in security or in advertising – they've all over the years decided that it was a good idea to use a tracker blocker or content blocker or adblocker, whatever you call it," said Jean-Paul Schmetz, CEO of Ghostery, in an interview with The Register.

"It's pretty unanimous that people who work in this industry and know how these things function want to protect themselves."

Schmetz said one surprising finding had to do with the extent to which people trust various companies that collect online data.

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