Ad-blocking is not entirely harmless

Bad advertisements make you wish you used an ad-blocker.

Noisy online advertisements wake up sleepy family members, disturb co-workers and can even interfere with telephone calls. Who doesn't click on their web browser during a dull call?

Thanks to bad, noisy ads, users learn switch off their computer speakers. That means they can miss what might otherwise be useful audio cues.

An ad-blocker might be handy way of dealing with irritating video commercials and annoying animated advertisements that dance across the screen.

But please don't automatically block ads

Or, at least, think again.

Advertising pays for the best free stuff online. Without online advertising, we would have to pay for everything we read, hear or see on the Internet. This may happen one day, but, for now, putting up with online advertising is the price you pay for the internet.

There’s nothing illegal or immoral about blocking ads. Ad-blocking isn’t killing the internet.

Ad blockers can damage

But ad blockers are damaging some of the best parts of the Internet. It means publishers earn less revenue to invest in writers and producing other media. It means there are fewer decent creative jobs.

If you feel you must use an ad-blocker, please choose one where you can whitelist pages or sites that deserve to earn advertising revenue. The best, most valuable online sites will choose not to run noisy, annoying ads. Reward that behaviour. Don't punish everyone for the sins of a minority.

By all means use ad blockers, but learn to use them wisely