There's a site I visit which uses lots of obnoxious banner ads. The
owner of the site runs a script that analyzes the server logs, looking
for people running ad blockers, and then bans their IP address from
being able to access the site.
His rationale is that the ads support the site, and that viewing the
ads is a requirement of using the site. When I suggested that I was
supporting the site by buying a classified ad, and would be willing to
pay a fee for viewing ad-free, he took my money and then posted an
insult about me (though not by name.) Sigh.
As ad-blockers (which often come with firewalls, but aren't actually
part of the firewall function) become more prevalent, web ads will
escalate the battle (see salon.com or Yahoo groups for examples).
Personally, I don't mind simple banner ads, but I hate a web page that
has more ads than content and ads that flash, shake, move, etc.
I'll also note (I'm just a user here), that you are not asking
questions of Google, but rather of a set of "independent contractor"
researchers. They have no specific insight as to what Google, as a
company, "stands" on such issues. I don't know what Google does with
cookies, if anything, but I doubt they care very much if you block
them. |
