AdBlock and Google AdSense

AdBlock Plus is an excellent Firefox plugin that automatically prevents the display of advertising on websites. This includes banner ads, as well as the sort of targeted text ads that Google has made a fortune through. When using AdBlock, the web is a much more functional, uncluttered place with fewer distractions. I highly recommend it.

At the same time, this site does have Google ads embedded in it.

If people want to use AdBlock and, by extension, not see the ads, I encourage them to do so. Indeed, I think there is a certain editorial advantage that arises from using both AdBlock and Google ads, myself. Since the ads are blocked whenever I view my site, I do not know what is being advertised here. As a result, I am not consciously or subconsciously influenced by the advertising. If newspaper and magazine editors could live in a similar state of disregard, when it comes to who is paying the bills, perhaps there might be a bit more journalistic integrity in the world.

Author: Milan

In the spring of 2005, I graduated from the University of British Columbia with a degree in International Relations and a general focus in the area of environmental politics. In the fall of 2005, I began reading for an M.Phil in IR at Wadham College, Oxford. Outside school, I am very interested in photography, writing, and the outdoors. I am writing this blog to keep in touch with friends and family around the world, provide a more personal view of graduate student life in Oxford, and pass on some lessons I've learned here.

13 thoughts on “AdBlock and Google AdSense”

  1. AsBlock is one major reason why I still prefer Firefox. NoScript is another.

    I also dislike the way tabs work in Chrome.

    I do often find myself using more than one browser at a time. In those cases, I use Firefox first, Safari second, and Chrome third.

  2. Thanks Padraic, I use Chrome in tandem with Firefox but have always been irked by the lack of NoScript for Chrome. I’ll try out AdThwart.

  3. I do pay Canadian taxes on my ad income. Thankfully, that allows me to write off web hosting as a business expense.

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  6. I figure any user who is sophisticated enough to use AdSense is someone who I want to have reading my site, not someone who I want to bother with advertising.

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