How do ads work?

[wootcube]

I thought most places relied on CPA, but I guess I was wrong.

I use several computers throughout the day with work/school/home/etc and it's not really worth my time to keep them all updated with ad blockers (considering most of them aren't mine anyways).

It's not even that they're annoying for me, I just don't like being redirected if I choose to click or accidentally click. Especially those "you won an xbox!" ones (not that I've seen any sketchy ads on Racketboy).

[noiseredux]

I also fast forward past ads on shows I like and trailers on DVDs of movies I enjoy.

to my understanding, you're not changing ad revenue doing that. Fast forwarding? I don't think there's any way the advertister knows you're doing that, so I don't think the show will lose money. In the case of the DVD, well you already bought the DVD. They already made their money for placing the ad.

I'm just saying it's different with internet ads.

[irixith]

FYI, blocking ads isn't exactly cool in my book. Look at the site you're on now. It has ads. Blocking them is kind of like telling Racket that you don't think he deserves to make money off this site. Just saying.

Why do people act like it's hard to "just not look"?

..but I don't think he *deserves* to make money on the website. Anyone that decides to set up a website that is free to access needs to understand the cost involved before doing it. If they can find a way that brings them some income (i.e. ads), great! However, they will have to work into their plan that a large portion of visitors will block and never see them. One would suppose that a website such as this has been set up to share the love of a particular hobby, and that the owner was knowledgeable about the cost that entailed going in.

If the goal of the website was to either turn a profit or guarantee server costs, it would be a paid membership.

The owner of any site is entitled to find a way to manage their costs if that's what they need to do, but to act all high and mighty, like blocking ads is somehow hurting the owner, no. If the site can't survive because the owner can't afford to run it, them's the breaks.

[noiseredux]

..but I don't think he *deserves* to make money on the website.

that shit's hilarious to me.

[jeffro11]

This freeloading thing many people think they are entitled to is complete and utter bullshit. You use the site? yes? Do you want this site to stay around? Click some god damn ads or view them.

[irixith]

This freeloading thing many people think they are entitled to is complete and utter bullshit. You use the site? yes? Do you want this site to stay around? Click some god damn ads or view them.

How is it freeloading?

Is the site..

..free to access? Yes.
..free to join? Yes.
..free to participate? Yes.

Does the site..

..ask for any money? No.
..comment anywhere about server costs? No.
..ask for donations? No.

Racket is clearly someone who took the time to weigh the cost/benefit, and has chosen to use ads as a method of revenue. Excellent! He's left the choice in the users hands, as it should be.

If he wanted to make money, the site wouldn't be free. Get off your high horse!

[CFFJR]

Seeing this discussion, I'm now very interested in what Racket himself has to say about it.

[BoringSupreez]

I block ads here and everywhere else, and I am not ashamed to admit it. Too many of them steal focus, play music, video, or do other annoying things. Website creators don't always have control over this content, so I will block all by default.

I can understand things like pop-ups being annoying. But I think it's a shame that sites people go to daily aren't bringing in the revenue they deserve because of ad-blocking.

I also fast forward past ads on shows I like and trailers on DVDs of movies I enjoy.

My parents once went so far as to open up some Disney VHS tapes and cut the ads out with scissors. Disney tapes from the early 2000's had absurd amounts of ads before the feature, sometimes like literally 10-20 minutes of them.

[Inazuma]

I hate ads with ever fiber of my being.

I block or avoid all internet ads one way or another. Even if they advertise something I am interested in, I won't click on them. This site is no exception. I didn't even know it had ads until you guys mentioned it. I don't remember ever seeing an ad here.

There is one exception to all this. If I specifically want to see ads, I will seek them out on my own. For example, I will purposely use the Minna no Nintendo channel on my Wii and watch the commercials there. I don't have a problem with those ads because I was the one who decided to view them.

That's basically my whole point. Ads are fine if I want to see them. I just have a problem with ads that show up uninvited, such as website banner ads or video ads that play before a video. Not only do I refuse to click on those ads, they actually make me less likely to visit that website or buy the product they are advertising!

Before anyone bitches at me for using Racketboy with an adblocker, I have two things to say. One, I would never click on an ad here anyway, so what's the harm in blocking it? Second, I have bought some things from the Racketboy store, partially for the reason of helping support the site.

[Hatta]

I tried turning off adblock and noscript on racketboy.com, still didn't see any ads. I'm guessing they're loaded by a script hosted on another domain which is still blocked by noscript. I'm not opposed to viewing ads on sites I value, but I'm not whitelisting google-analytics.

Ads would be much more tolerable and much more effective if they were hosted just like any other image on the site. No javascript, no potential exploits, no flashing or moving, please.