I was scratching my head in wonder at the news that Yahoo! and Google are now making it easy for their users to opt out of advertisement targeting. I can't remember the last time I've seen an ad. I installed Adblock Plus a year or so ago and haven't seen an ad since.
No, I haven't figured out how Google and others can make money in the absence of ad. For that matter, who knows how CNET will?
All I know is that ads are a thing of the past for me, on the TV and on the web. It's nice that Yahoo! and Google are kind of, sort of recognizing this. But for the crowd that will be savvy enough to know how to turn off ads (and will read the press that reports on such things), they're already using Adblock Plus.
In other words, Yahoo! and Google, thank you but no thank you. We've already taken care of our ads.
I must admit, I've completely forgotten what Internet advertising looks like. I installed Adblock Plus with Firefox a year or so ago and I haven't seen an ad since.
Not a single one.
If you have yet to declare your independence from ads, I'd encourage you to do so. It's strangely serene browsing the web without advertisements.
It's not immoral to browse ad-free, as some suggest. No, there are far better business models for the web than simply spraying ad graffiti over everything. Entrepreneurs might just have to think again - use a little creativity - to figure them out.
In the meantime, I just wish there were a way to take Adblock Plus offline....
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