It’s OK to block ads (2015)

Ethics of Blocking Ads

• Many commenters see blocking ads as not just permissible but morally required, given pervasive tracking, manipulation, scams, and attention theft.
• Several argue that the “deal” (content for attention) is not binding: once bits reach your device, you’re free to render or discard them as you wish.
• Others say they do block ads but admit it’s essentially free-riding; they reject elaborate ethical justifications and frame it as simple convenience.
• A few suggest that for children especially, blocking ads is a moral duty due to consumerist conditioning and health harms (e.g., food ads).

Tracking, Manipulation, and Quality of Information

• Strong hostility to behavioral tracking: often described as stalking or “surveillance capitalism,” distinct from contextual ads that match page content.
• Many report ads as a major vector for scams and malware, citing fake download buttons, deepfake celebrity supplement pitches, and fraudulent e‑commerce.
• Some argue ads degrade the information ecosystem: incentivizing clickbait, misinformation, plagiarism, and a flood of low‑quality “content.”
• Others note that even without ads, disinformation funded by states or ideologues would persist, though ad removal might reduce overall “bullshit volume.”

Economics: Paying for Content vs. Free Access

• Debate over whether users who refuse both ads and payment undervalue creators’ work, especially given what they implicitly “spend” in time.
• Counter‑view: distribution is effectively free and there is already more high‑quality free material (courses, classics, research) than one life can absorb, so paying for additional “content” is often irrational.
• Some happily pay for specific subscriptions (newsletters, streaming, newspapers) while running adblockers everywhere; they distinguish creators from platforms.
• Micropayments are seen as a missing piece: several say they’d tip small amounts if there were a universal, frictionless system.

Value (and Harm) of Advertising

• Pro‑ad arguments: ads can inform users about products they genuinely want, help new entrants compete with incumbents, and fund services people won’t otherwise pay for.
• Critics respond that in practice ads reward brands with higher margins, not better value, and drive arms races that raise costs and displace quality signals.
• An adtech worker describes “retail media” (sponsored placements on e‑commerce pages) as akin to grocery end‑caps; opponents still see this as manipulative and zero‑sum.

Attention as a Scarce Resource

• Several expand on the “attention economy”: attention is what life is made of, so losing it to ads is intrinsically costly.
• Many see modern web advertising as systematically converting human attention into minimal economic value for platforms and advertisers, at high personal and societal cost.