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Ars Technica on the problem with adblocking

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40hz:
When oh when will a good micropayments system come around?

- Oshyan
-JavaJones (March 10, 2010, 05:05 PM)
--- End quote ---


I'm guessing it will be shortly after the widespread adoption of bulletproof paywalls makes the existence of a workable micropayment system a necessity.

Say about 2-3 years from now?

The only problem is that the payments probably won't be that "micro" once it happens since there will be service charges added to the actual payment portion.

40hz:
Nobody ASKED you, nor FORCED you to provide us with information, so stfu moaning and get on with your life.  You wont be missed by me if I get blocked from using your website ^_^
-Stephen66515 (March 10, 2010, 03:52 PM)
--- End quote ---

Harsh words Stephen...kinda hard to have a rational dialog when someone says "stfu." Ken Fisher may (or may not) be wrong, but he's made a case that deserves to be heard and debated. :)

And also not completely fair. If people are visiting a site on a regular basis, they are by default "asking" to be provided with the information regardless of the value they assign to it.

However, I do agree with those who dislike people running with a 'guilt trip' line of argument.

There's an old Zen saying:

"When walking - just walk. When sitting - just sit. Endeavor not to wobble."

So my feeling is, if you want (or need) to be paid for doing whatever it is you do - then require payment for your efforts. And if it's not forthcoming - stop doing it.

And if you're primarily doing it for love, then (just like love) ask for - but don't expect reciprocation.

But whatever you do - don't wobble. ;)

Innuendo:
Ya know....I used to buy Fisher's "I'm just a poor web site trying to struggle and make ends meet" story until someone came along and bought Ars Technica from him for a cool $25 million.

Yes.

Read it again.

$25 million.

No one's going to lay out that kind of cash for something unless the money is rolling in & there's an almost certainty they are going to make that money back over time.

40hz:
@Innuendo -

Spot on!  I actually liked ArsTechnica a lot more before it became 'successful'.

I supported it in its "green &orange" days. I hardly ever go there anymore.

doctorfrog:
As sympathetic as I am to the folks at Ars Technica, I wasn't too happy at being a guinea pig for them on the story they put up. I just figured that the story had been deleted, and moved on.

If ad companies hadn't saturated every possible square inch of space on or off the net with eye-catching ads, tracking cookies, and assorted dirty tricks, there wouldn't have been quite the arms race between them and those who are capable of blocking them. As it is, this little darwinian struggle has produced best-of-breed ad blocking that just about anyone can use.

It sucks that places from Ars Technica to the New York Times have been caught in between these two forces, but this is their opportunity to be a little creative about how they get people to sponsor their news.

Ars Technica is one of the best sources for decent tech news coverage, and I wish them well. But this cute stunt hasn't earned them much sympathy from me. As one of the Ars community members commented, "Why didn't you just ask us to whitelist you in the first place?"

Also, Ars is a Conde Naste property now, I'd imagine that they're under pressure to perform, but they do clearly have investors, and they're in a better spot than many a web site out there.

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