There are just too many advertisements on the internet. And sometimes it just gets way too infuriating.

We mean, while browsing the internet you come across so many ads, the ones that flash, the ones that auto-play, and pop up, and some ads that even prevent you from accessing a page until you dismiss them. We are pretty sure almost everyone has been in a situation like this. 

Are you tired of ads that pop up, and disturb you when you are working or casually browsing the internet? Well, thanks to Ad Blockers, you can now use the internet without being overwhelmed, by blocking all these advertisements.

In this post, we are going to take a look at Ad Blockers, and discuss about the disadvantages of using them. Let’s get started!

What are Ad Blockers?

Just as the name suggests, an Ad Blocker refers to a tool that lets you block or alter online ads from being shown while using a web browser. They are generally browser-add ons, but ad-blocking or filtering can also be done using other methods.

Thus, by blocking certain types of frustrating seizure-inducing animated banners, and annoying ads, the website provides you with a smooth, and hassle-free browsing experience, and also makes the webpages load faster, and easy to read.

There are a lot of Ad Blockers available in the market. Most of them come in the form of web browser extensions. Some of the best ones are Adblock Plus, Strands Fair Adblocker, and Ghostery. Some web browsers like Brave, and Opera now come with built-in ad-blocking features.

Ad Blockers can offer you rich, and smoother web navigation. Since the browser is now focused more on loading the main content of the web page instead of focusing on loading the ads, this makes the web pages load faster.

This can also help you save up on mobile data, especially while you are using a mobile phone.

Furthermore, it is also common for hackers to use advertisements to load your system with malware, which you can prevent from happening by using an Ad Blocker.

However, it is important to note that an Ad Blocker cannot remove or block all types of ads. Several advertisers get their ads “whitelisted”, which do not allow Ad Blockers to block them from being shown.

In this quick 58 second video, McAfee offers a basic outline of what an Ad Blocker​ is, and why you could all use one. 

How do Ad Blockers work?

An online advertisement like the ones you see while using web browsers is usually served by servers. The addresses of these servers are generally known.

Now, an Ad Blocker either uses a manual input or pre-installed filters, and identifies the addresses, and then blocks these ads from being shown.

Thus, it checks the source of the advertisement or an element of a webpage, and if it matches anything with its filter list, it simply blocks it.

Thus, once you use an Ad Blocker, it prevents pop-ups advertisements, autoplay videos, banners advertisements, and other forms of online advertisements, and gives you a cleaner, and more streamlined web browsing experience.

Disadvantages of Ad Blockers and the moral question

So far, we have only discussed about the benefits of using an Ad Blocker. You may well argue, that if it has so many benefits, how could an Ad Blocker possibly be a bad thing? To answer that, let us now shift our topic of discussion to the disadvantages of using an Ad Blocker.

To begin with, let us admit that not all the ads are annoying, and deserve to be blocked. Sometimes, you get to know about interesting offers, discounts, new products, resourceful websites, and so much more with the help of online advertisements.

And, using an Ad Blocker extension will block all of the ads, even the good ones. This means that you won’t be able to get the benefits of advertising.

Also, some Ad Blockers are known to collect your online data, like online behavior, browser history, and analytics, and send them to third parties that pay them for this information. And the worst part is you don’t even realize that you are being tracked online. 

However, the biggest issue with using an Ad Blocker is the fact that it is “unethical”. Why’s that so? Well, you know that using an Ad Blocker prevents ads from being shown. Now, when this happens, the owner of the website that is displaying these advertisements loses ad revenue.

And, losing ad revenue could be devastating for smaller companies, and online publishers as many of them rely on ad revenue for their income. 

With the number of internet users using Ad Blockers increasing day by day, it is obvious that web publishers, and content creators are worried about this growing trend of Ad Blockers.

According to a report by Adobe, and Paige, this contributed to a loss of almost twenty-two billion dollars in online ad revenue.

On one hand, you can have a smooth web experience, but at the same time website owners, and online publishers lose their revenue, which is unfair.

This also implies that websites, and other content creators will have fewer resources, and money, to keep providing you with the content that you love. Thus, it is also contributing to the death of independent media.

This will force them to switch to other models, like subscription models, which literally translates to less free content for you to enjoy. Or they may simply shut down. Thus, it may not look like a big deal, but on the face of it, it somewhere is.

Conclusion on Ad Blockers

There is no denying that an Ad Blocker can help you have a smooth, and undisturbed web experience, especially when you are sick of the obnoxious ads. However, just like any other thing, Ad Blockers, too have their Pros, and Cons. 

In the end, it’s up to you to judge whether the pros of the Ad Blockers overpowers the cons or vice-versa, and make an informed decision on your own. 

We hope that this article helped you understand the arguments, and issues related to Ad Blockers, and whether you should use them or not.

Do you have questions or comments ? Feel free to leave a comment down below in the comments section. For more posts on Ad Blockers, don’t forget to check out our blog.