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Pachter talks about AdBlock
- Thread starter DarkoMaledictus
- Start date
I go to gaming sites, like, a handful of times per week. I don't even watch videos, I read articles or reviews.
I literally spend 99% of my internet time on Neogaf, Youtube, and Twitch. Neogaf isn't blocked when it comes to ads, Twitch users I follow aren't blocked, Youtube for the most part is blocked.
Makes sense.
No?
Most youtubers I watch aren't malicious or mean spirited.
I guess the youtubers you watch are I guess.
I feel pretty much the same way. I stopped watching TV for the same reasons you did, and I even managed to convince the gf to put it on mute whenever commercial break is on while she watches the telly.
Bollocks.
It isn't stealing.
I use Adblock on several sites. However if I like the site then I turn it off.
Obviously it is off with The GAF.
outunderthestars
Banned
I wasn't trying to imply that you did, just that different sites have different overheads.
Arrogant Bastard
Banned
This just in, I'm stealing from Amazon for running ABP on their site while I shop and spend money there...Right.
I just finished watching all youtube videos this last week (slow week at work) and I can confidently say that 33% of youtubers are malicious.
Kazuma Kiryu
Member
Blocking advertisements is stealing? Wow.
There are more reasons to use Adblock than not
* Blocking ads saves bandwidth
* Blocking ads protects you against from NFSW content in a SFW enviroment
* Blocking ads protects you against potential malware and security threats
* Blocking ads makes sites load faster
* Blocking ads makes viewing sites aethesticlly cleaner
* Blocking ads saves you time by not viewing unskippable ads on videos
* Blocking ads stops instrusive pop ups
* Blocking ads prevents you from acidently from clicking fake links or downloads
* Blocking ads stops you from acidently clicking on one
* Blocking ads stops ads with instusive sounds
Dont tell people what they can and cant do. Find alternate revenue streams such as subscriptions.
* Blocking ads saves bandwidth
* Blocking ads protects you against from NFSW content in a SFW enviroment
* Blocking ads protects you against potential malware and security threats
* Blocking ads makes sites load faster
* Blocking ads makes viewing sites aethesticlly cleaner
* Blocking ads saves you time by not viewing unskippable ads on videos
* Blocking ads stops instrusive pop ups
* Blocking ads prevents you from acidently from clicking fake links or downloads
* Blocking ads stops you from acidently clicking on one
* Blocking ads stops ads with instusive sounds
Dont tell people what they can and cant do. Find alternate revenue streams such as subscriptions.
AdBlock is "stealing" the same way changing the channel when commercials come on is stealing.
Louis Cyphre
Banned
There is a time and place for ads. I agree that if you're not paying for anything then why are you complaining about ads when that is used for revenue. On the flip side I just went to see Spiderman 2 at the theater, paid $11 and had to sit through multiple ads. I love watching movie trailers but why are we now having to sit through ads? Anyone? On top of that the price at the concessions is outrageous so that is another source of revenue and further defeats the purpose of ads.
Watching cable is a bit more tricky, we pay for cable yet have commercials. So should we not be able to skip them with our PVR's?
Watching cable is a bit more tricky, we pay for cable yet have commercials. So should we not be able to skip them with our PVR's?
Rabid-Coot
Member
You can manually block a specific item.
Arrogant Bastard
Banned
Arrogant Bastard
Banned
DVR 21st century thief!
What's this absurdity?
styl3s
Member
Why? He never said he uses Adblock here, he just said he used it on the video.
I'm sure the majority of people on this forum use adblock on 99% of the sites they visit. GAF being part of that 1% of course.
Can someone please explain me why would sites prefer you to "go somewhere else instead"?
I'm not doubting that would be the case, but I honestly don't understand it. Sure, it would be best for them if everyone visiting gametrailers saw the ads, but would they really rather lose the viewer? Is it a bandwidth thing?
I would think they'd choose to have more people watching, even if they're not making more money.
It's one thing to say adblock makes it so people who would be ok with ads won't watch them, but if the person is so sensitive to it that they would just stop visiting the site, what are they losing?
I wish GAF ads weren't so lame in Brazil, btw, they don't bother me at all, but it would be nice to have actually useful stuff like I've seen people even talking about pizza discounts, that's rad.
I'm not doubting that would be the case, but I honestly don't understand it. Sure, it would be best for them if everyone visiting gametrailers saw the ads, but would they really rather lose the viewer? Is it a bandwidth thing?
I would think they'd choose to have more people watching, even if they're not making more money.
It's one thing to say adblock makes it so people who would be ok with ads won't watch them, but if the person is so sensitive to it that they would just stop visiting the site, what are they losing?
I wish GAF ads weren't so lame in Brazil, btw, they don't bother me at all, but it would be nice to have actually useful stuff like I've seen people even talking about pizza discounts, that's rad.
The most popular youtube reviewers are the shitty nerd-rage or fast-cut "lol i'm so zany!" people. I'm sure there are plenty of reasonable ones as well. Point being, neither Pach nor the good youtube reviewers are being paid (assuming the youtube reviewers are unpopular) and are under no obligation to act "professionally". Pachter's only duty on this show is to express his opinion and his opinion is that the shitty person who wrote the letter was shitty.
Subscriptions for all the websites we go to is unreasonable because there are so many ways to do billing.
The only solution to that is a unified billing through our ISPs and that would just be giving them even more power over everyone than they deserve.
Most websites using ads and a handful using subs is a lot better than everyone trying to use subs for an ad free internet.
If you (and everyone else with similar opinions) think there work is valueless how about you try not visiting their websites during E3 month and report back on how you feel either their slanted perspectives or objective work didn't negatively impact the way you consumed gaming information during E3.
You also have to avoid any gaf threads that use giantbomb/GT/etc as a citation.
GlamFM
Banned
Care to elaborate?
Baleoce
Member
I'm assuming the network still gets that ad revenue, as you've tuned in.
I'm a scumbag!
Cable would be even more expensive without ads
DidntKnowJack
Member
Ads are one of the big reasons I don't have cable or satellite any more. I just have no time or patience for them. If there's something on TV I want to watch, I pay for that content either through DVD, Blu-ray, or a streaming service. Fuck TV ads. Same reason I can't listen to the radio anymore. I buy my music. Fuck radio ads too.
Nobody forces these guys to put their site online for free...
Vigilant Walrus
Member
I love Patcher, I wish I was married to a man like Patcher.
AT LEAST HE PREDICTS, Lois! Not like you, always stuck in "maybe" land.
AT LEAST HE PREDICTS, Lois! Not like you, always stuck in "maybe" land.
LoveCake
Member
I use AdBlock on 99% of sites, i have it turned off here on Gaf however i would never click on a advert on any website anyway, i never have & i never will.
The sooner advertisers realise that nobody takes any notice of adverts on websites the better, all they do is slow the site from loading & also are annoying, especially the video ones that auto play & those pesky ones that float about the screen, i have on a a few occasions emailed the website & also the company that makes the product advertised saying that i will never be visiting their website again & i will never buy the product advertised.
The sooner advertisers realise that nobody takes any notice of adverts on websites the better, all they do is slow the site from loading & also are annoying, especially the video ones that auto play & those pesky ones that float about the screen, i have on a a few occasions emailed the website & also the company that makes the product advertised saying that i will never be visiting their website again & i will never buy the product advertised.
Fantastapotamus
Wrong about commas, wrong about everything
I don't mind ads, I usually surf with AdBlock turned off. However if a site chooses to host an add that either
-Pops up, obscuring the screen
-Makes sound
-Promisses me an iPhone if I click it or
-Is just fucking annoying
then sorry, you are on the black list.
I don't mind seing banners, but The Escapist for example has just the most horrible ads on the internet and it makes the entire site look like a gigantic scam.
-Pops up, obscuring the screen
-Makes sound
-Promisses me an iPhone if I click it or
-Is just fucking annoying
then sorry, you are on the black list.
I don't mind seing banners, but The Escapist for example has just the most horrible ads on the internet and it makes the entire site look like a gigantic scam.
AwakenedCloud
Member
I've always wondered who actually clicks on ads. Honest question, has anyone here ever bought anything directly from an online ad?
If it's similar to publish, your subscription fee payed to your provider may only be enough to cover delivery and not content creation.
It's likely that their ads do work though. Otherwise they wouldn't keep paying for them.
legacyzero
Banned
It doesn't help that GT has some of the most annoying ads on the internet. Especially the Verizon Wireless ones. A FULL 30 seconds I have to wait through these awkward ads. I know by watching these ads, I'm helping to pay for your time and work, and I support that. But just remember that MY time is important to me, too. People would feel less compelled to use adblock if the ads weren't so intrusive IMO. You really are an asshole if you adblock, especially on sites that you frequent.
Like NeoGAF.
Like NeoGAF.
Now you're just a dirty pirate!
ChieSatonaka
Banned
Lol, I already do! Neogaf provides better coverage of any press event than most games media.
It's like arguing you owe a street performer money simply because you are within earshot. That's not how it works. Websites are not honeypots that you land on and suddenly owe someone something. You need good content. You need to be valuable to users.
If everyone did this, the shows you like would stop getting funded. Whether you call it "stealing" or not, it's bad for the industry.
Key word: Questionable. I'm literally saying it's not black and white.
This is black and white:
Yes, all ads are malicious. All people who advertise a product are out to get you. How dare websites put ads on their site.
Point is, every action has a consequence. Adblock is part of a larger issue: internet advertising is largely worthless, which is going to cause a lot of entities that thrive on it (like game websites) to hit hard times.
The main problem that adblock solves for me is when visiting sites I have never been on before and/or sites that have intrusive ads (for example auto playing video+sound and popups). If adblock didn't exist I would have to restrict myself to visiting only well known sites for 2 main reasons:
1) malware/spyware. running javascript/ads on an unknown site is asking for trouble.
2) R.I.P. ears, especially if I am wearing headphones. Many sites autoplay ads with audio and the audio is usually cranked up to the max. volume possible.
If I go to a certain site regularly (which means I like the content) and know that I can trust it not to contain malware or ear killing ads I will whitelist it (or subscribe). But that trust needs to be earned.
1) malware/spyware. running javascript/ads on an unknown site is asking for trouble.
2) R.I.P. ears, especially if I am wearing headphones. Many sites autoplay ads with audio and the audio is usually cranked up to the max. volume possible.
If I go to a certain site regularly (which means I like the content) and know that I can trust it not to contain malware or ear killing ads I will whitelist it (or subscribe). But that trust needs to be earned.
Arrogant Bastard
Banned
Which is what I don't get. I have never once intentionally clicked on an ad, 99% of the time the ad's aren't even something I would be interested in, the 1% of the time it has no effect. It is a massive waste of money, but maybe I don't understand marketing and advertising. I'm sure someone will say "There is an unconscious connection, it makes you want pizza." Sorry, BS.
If the industry is built on something unsustainable then it's not something worth propping up.
Shades of "no one will ever pay for music because it's on the radio for free"
HBO seems to be doing pretty well.
I did end up buying The Last Story from Amazon after seeing it on NeoGAF, but as a general rule I don't click directly on ads.
Ads on GAF in general are well done, they stay in one place, don't make a sound and are usually work-safe.
Aquamarine
Member
So because I am an idiot worst-kind-of-person-in-the-world scumbag who sucks and because I am literally stealing and destroying content creation, here is a transcript of Pachter's rant that I wrote:
Question:
"As content creation becomes easier through new innovations such as having Twitch integrated into consoles, as well as self-publishing through YouTube, what's the point of gaming sites? Is game journalism dead? I also refuse to visit any site without first having Adblock enabled, blocking any potential ad revenue and if GameTrailers or others go out of business because of it I could care less."
Pachter:
"Wow. You're a great dude."
Question (continued):
"I'll always be able to get trailers, previews, etc through some other site if not the publisher's site directly and there are hundreds of sites with reviews. Therefore, I feel that most sites will disappear since I don't see them fulfilling any kind of demand that couldn't be satiated someplace else. What are your thoughts?"
Pachter:
"All right. You're the worst kind of person in the world, because you want everything for free. You don't even want to sit through ads because you're just low-bottom-sucking scum. You think the guys sitting in my office right now should work for free (I actually do work for free), they shouldn't be paid, the camera equipment should be bought by somebody and not get an earn-out on that because you're too much of a scumbag to watch ads? I can tell you there are guys a hell of a lot smarter than you working on defeating Adblock, so I will predict boldly you knowing shit about software development or the Internet. Adblock will get beat. There will be guys who figure out a way to make you watch ads that you can't block, and even if you do it will be just dead space or 30 seconds your content won't start, you'll just be sitting there staring at a blank screen for 30 seconds. Might as well run the ad, scumbag.
But the point is, and the reason I keep calling you a scumbag (and by the way, you are one), is if you consume content that's professionally created by people who expect to be paid for it, you need to pay for it. And the beauty of sites like GameTrailers is they give you a lot of compelling content and the only thing they ask you to do is to pay attention to ads...and you don't even have to, you can walk out of the room and come back. But, that's all they're asking you to do is deal with the ad so they can get paid. And, you know, you watch commercial TV, I guess you DVR every show and zip through it, you're a scumbag, that's fine, that's the price you pay to get stuff for free. And if you choose not to pay it you're absolutely right, you said it right, professionals will go away, the world will consist of YouTube.
So if everybody had your attitude, we would have no television, TV would go away because professionally-produced content would disappear, and we would live in a society run by anarchists. And it would be YouTube, and if you wanna watch YouTube all day instead of watching Breaking Bad (which I think is some of the best TV I've ever seen), great, go for it. Because no one's going to pay for it, if nobody pays for it, it won't get created. That really sucks. Sucks for you. Because you like everything for free, and yet you're not even willing to pay your fair part. You suck. So, I hope you don't watch this on GameTrailers, they won't block it on YouTube, and guess what, on YouTube there are ads too. I know you block them. Imagine if Google couldn't get paid. We wouldn't have [Google] Search. The Internet would stop if we didn't have ads. You idiot. Everything would stop. You idiot.
I mean the reason that we get like music, the reason that Pandora exists is ads. If no one could monetize you would get nothing. Artists wouldn't exist. You wouldn't have music. You idiot. So, you say, let's go back, "What is the point of gaming sites?" The point of gaming sites is that you have people who spend full-time thinking about this stuff. Now I cover 19 companies, among them Best Buy and Netflix and Pandora, I don't spend all my time thinking about games. I spend 20% of my time thinking about games. So I don't even know if Elder Scrolls Online is subscription or free-to-play, I don't even know if Destiny has a single-player campaign, I'll figure it out when I get asked a question on Pach-Attack, whatever. But guess what, the guys who run gaming websites know that stuff, and it's a great place to go to find that out.
If you want to know if you should spend $60 on a game, it's nice to read a game review. Yeah you can get that stuff free, you can go and read user reviews. Boy that's really helpful. I would rather read Jim Sterling's reviews because Jim Sterling is my boy. He writes honest reviews, I would rather read Jeff Gerstmann's reviews because Jeff Gerstmann is really good. If I read those guy's reviews, I know if I should get that game or not. And before I spend $60, I want a professional opinion. Hey guess what, those guys make money from ads. Giant Bomb is free, and so is [The] Escapist. Free. I know Sterling, I read his shit, and I can't even remember where it is, but I watch the damn ads. Those are free, and I don't think that either Jeff Gerstmann or Jim Sterling make very much money, I think they probably like are on subsistence wages, but they make enough to like pay rent and buy food, and if you don't watch the ads, they can't eat, and they can't cover their heads with shelter, and they have to go do something else. And if they do something else, I don't know which games to buy, you bastard. So you should watch the goddamn ads. Was I clear enough?
By the way, what do you think a think a "game trailer" is, you moron? It's an ad. When you watch a game trailer it's an ad for a game. It's unbelievable. Adblock Plus. You suck. So just start watching stuff without ads and then wonder where it comes from and then crow about how you got it for free. Oh god, it's almost stealing, it's just wrong."
Question:
"As content creation becomes easier through new innovations such as having Twitch integrated into consoles, as well as self-publishing through YouTube, what's the point of gaming sites? Is game journalism dead? I also refuse to visit any site without first having Adblock enabled, blocking any potential ad revenue and if GameTrailers or others go out of business because of it I could care less."
Pachter:
"Wow. You're a great dude."
Question (continued):
"I'll always be able to get trailers, previews, etc through some other site if not the publisher's site directly and there are hundreds of sites with reviews. Therefore, I feel that most sites will disappear since I don't see them fulfilling any kind of demand that couldn't be satiated someplace else. What are your thoughts?"
Pachter:
"All right. You're the worst kind of person in the world, because you want everything for free. You don't even want to sit through ads because you're just low-bottom-sucking scum. You think the guys sitting in my office right now should work for free (I actually do work for free), they shouldn't be paid, the camera equipment should be bought by somebody and not get an earn-out on that because you're too much of a scumbag to watch ads? I can tell you there are guys a hell of a lot smarter than you working on defeating Adblock, so I will predict boldly you knowing shit about software development or the Internet. Adblock will get beat. There will be guys who figure out a way to make you watch ads that you can't block, and even if you do it will be just dead space or 30 seconds your content won't start, you'll just be sitting there staring at a blank screen for 30 seconds. Might as well run the ad, scumbag.
But the point is, and the reason I keep calling you a scumbag (and by the way, you are one), is if you consume content that's professionally created by people who expect to be paid for it, you need to pay for it. And the beauty of sites like GameTrailers is they give you a lot of compelling content and the only thing they ask you to do is to pay attention to ads...and you don't even have to, you can walk out of the room and come back. But, that's all they're asking you to do is deal with the ad so they can get paid. And, you know, you watch commercial TV, I guess you DVR every show and zip through it, you're a scumbag, that's fine, that's the price you pay to get stuff for free. And if you choose not to pay it you're absolutely right, you said it right, professionals will go away, the world will consist of YouTube.
So if everybody had your attitude, we would have no television, TV would go away because professionally-produced content would disappear, and we would live in a society run by anarchists. And it would be YouTube, and if you wanna watch YouTube all day instead of watching Breaking Bad (which I think is some of the best TV I've ever seen), great, go for it. Because no one's going to pay for it, if nobody pays for it, it won't get created. That really sucks. Sucks for you. Because you like everything for free, and yet you're not even willing to pay your fair part. You suck. So, I hope you don't watch this on GameTrailers, they won't block it on YouTube, and guess what, on YouTube there are ads too. I know you block them. Imagine if Google couldn't get paid. We wouldn't have [Google] Search. The Internet would stop if we didn't have ads. You idiot. Everything would stop. You idiot.
I mean the reason that we get like music, the reason that Pandora exists is ads. If no one could monetize you would get nothing. Artists wouldn't exist. You wouldn't have music. You idiot. So, you say, let's go back, "What is the point of gaming sites?" The point of gaming sites is that you have people who spend full-time thinking about this stuff. Now I cover 19 companies, among them Best Buy and Netflix and Pandora, I don't spend all my time thinking about games. I spend 20% of my time thinking about games. So I don't even know if Elder Scrolls Online is subscription or free-to-play, I don't even know if Destiny has a single-player campaign, I'll figure it out when I get asked a question on Pach-Attack, whatever. But guess what, the guys who run gaming websites know that stuff, and it's a great place to go to find that out.
If you want to know if you should spend $60 on a game, it's nice to read a game review. Yeah you can get that stuff free, you can go and read user reviews. Boy that's really helpful. I would rather read Jim Sterling's reviews because Jim Sterling is my boy. He writes honest reviews, I would rather read Jeff Gerstmann's reviews because Jeff Gerstmann is really good. If I read those guy's reviews, I know if I should get that game or not. And before I spend $60, I want a professional opinion. Hey guess what, those guys make money from ads. Giant Bomb is free, and so is [The] Escapist. Free. I know Sterling, I read his shit, and I can't even remember where it is, but I watch the damn ads. Those are free, and I don't think that either Jeff Gerstmann or Jim Sterling make very much money, I think they probably like are on subsistence wages, but they make enough to like pay rent and buy food, and if you don't watch the ads, they can't eat, and they can't cover their heads with shelter, and they have to go do something else. And if they do something else, I don't know which games to buy, you bastard. So you should watch the goddamn ads. Was I clear enough?
By the way, what do you think a think a "game trailer" is, you moron? It's an ad. When you watch a game trailer it's an ad for a game. It's unbelievable. Adblock Plus. You suck. So just start watching stuff without ads and then wonder where it comes from and then crow about how you got it for free. Oh god, it's almost stealing, it's just wrong."