{"id":28746,"date":"2015-02-22T16:24:37","date_gmt":"2015-02-22T21:24:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/exploringourmatrix\/?p=28746"},"modified":"2015-02-22T16:24:37","modified_gmt":"2015-02-22T21:24:37","slug":"escalating-ad-wars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2015\/02\/escalating-ad-wars.html","title":{"rendered":"Escalating Ad Wars"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

A site like Patheos\u00a0depends on advertising. The use of ad-blockers not only places the site\u2019s ongoing existence in jeopardy in the long term, but deprives bloggers of their measly income\u00a0in the short term as well.<\/p>\n

I was aware that Patheos was going to try to find a way of delivering one advertisement in a way that would get past ad-blocking software. I understand from a friend that the result is often an extra tab of the sort that one expects only from shadier corners of the internet.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m in two minds on this subject, and have been for some time. On the one hand, I don\u2019t think there is anything wrong with a blogger expecting to make a pittance of income as a result of blogging. I blogged for a long time before Patheos offered to pay me for doing so, and I am sure I would continue blogging even if the prospect of income were taken away. But on days when I might have simply foregone blogging, the fact that it is something that brings income was part of my\u00a0motivation to go ahead and find something to blog about.<\/p>\n

On the other hand, I sympathize with the desire to avoid ads. I have been one of the noisiest complainers when noisy ads were getting through onto the Patheos site. I pushed for there to be a full post RSS feed so that people\u00a0didn\u2019t have to click through to the site to read what I\u2019ve written.<\/p>\n

And so I haven\u2019t thought of those who use ad-block software as stealing from me, in the way that Frank Schaeffer does<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But neither do I think that one has some inherent right to be able to access sites which depend on advertising to exist, yet\u00a0without seeing the advertising.<\/p>\n

Is this more like the case of someone who waits for a TV show to come out on DVD and borrows it from the public library, and so the makers are not really getting income from that individual, but it is perfectly legitimate? Or is it more like the case of people who jump turnstiles on the NYC Subway, and so are using for free what others are paying to use and thus making it possible for them to illegally use for free?<\/p>\n

It is clearly more like the former than the latter. But it still deserves thought and reflection. As an academic author, I am resigned to the fact that I will make very little from sales of academic books that I write or edit. The system is such that they are mostly bought by libraries.<\/p>\n

What is the model for blogging? Are we likely to see an escalating war between sites that advertise and programs that try to allow readers not to be exposed to advertising?<\/p>\n

Perhaps if we could make some of the things that are most annoying illegal \u2013 the pop-ups, and auto-play videos, and ads that make your entire browser grind to a halt and crash, and things like that \u2013 then most people would be willing to not block the ads that remain? Because I am sure that most people are not seeking to prevent websites and bloggers from making an income, but are trying to avoid annoying inconveniences to themselves.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s the solution?<\/p>\n

Let me encourage you to voice your views on this in the comments section here. I\u00a0promise that I will make sure that someone at Patheos\u00a0has the things you write drawn to their attention.<\/p>\n

Let me end by reminding you of that time when\u00a0the blog had the most appropriate ad ever:<\/p>\n

\"Appropriate<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A site like Patheos\u00a0depends on advertising. The use of ad-blockers not only places the site\u2019s ongoing existence in jeopardy in the long term, but deprives bloggers of their measly income\u00a0in the short term as well. I was aware that Patheos was going to try to find a way of delivering one advertisement in a way […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":136,"featured_media":4895,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,70],"tags":[363,392,402,1253,1254,1259,5107,10296,11535],"class_list":["post-28746","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-biblioblogging-bible","category-patheos","tag-ad-block","tag-ads","tag-advertising","tag-bloggers","tag-blogging","tag-blogs","tag-income","tag-revenue","tag-software"],"yoast_head":"\nEscalating Ad Wars<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A site like Patheos\u00a0depends on advertising. 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