Indian news websites starts blocking AD-Block users, Open letter to them

Do you use AB on TechEnclave?

  • Yes.. I Don't care if they lose revenue

    Votes: 18 48.6%

  • No.. I care for the site i'm regular to.

    Votes: 19 51.4%
  • Total voters
    37
swatkats

swatkats

Skilled
Edit: It seems Hindustan times,NDTV and Indiatoday group are also participating in this Anti Ad block campaign.
[Dear HT,NDTV and XYZ media outlets, This also applies to you!]


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From morning on wards i started observing Times Group has started blocking Web Browsers with AD BLOCK extension.

I agree advertisements are foremost backbone of any Internet publication. Ads are must for any publication offline or online to survive and grow but what is happening over years is nothing but too much annoyance.

You may follow in the foot steps of famous publications like Forbes etc.

This open letter to Times group is on behalf of every reader out there. I would like to point out a few points as to why i justify AD BLOCK.

- Auto play videos:

When i start browsing TOI and ET, I notice sounds from somewhere.. later realise that a video is being played without my consent (Auto played) be it ads or timesnow videos. Do you guys realise how less are the Fair usage limtis (FUP) on a broadband package and every time i have to switch off that thing. Through AB (AdBlock) I can simply get rid of this non-sense by just blocking the script.
on wired broadband its somewhat fine but what about i use Times sites on a laptop accessed through a 4G/3G connection?

TRAI believes 80-85% data is being consumed up through this auto play ad videos without user's consent (Link: http://indianexpress.com/article/te...ds-to-prevent-involuntary-data-usage-2828140/ ). Times group was the first to come in mind when i actually read this article :D

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This is why i use Ad Block.:finger: I sincerely hope you guys get screwed up by TRAI when such regulations come in to place.

- ADS ADS & ADS all over.

The reality behind most of the articles written is there is just 20% matter that is new and 80% is being repeated over and over again in the similar subject articles. Coming to the point, these large ads take up a lot of time loading articles on my 1mbps connection. Wait. Wait. Wait.

What about this? http://i.imgur.com/khC1iJG.jpg


This is why i use Ad Block.:finger:


- Scrolling ads that covers the whole main page

I notice this type of ads (Curtain ads) which covers the main page is not only irritating but also bandwidth hog. I need to manually close such Ads every time to read articles. Look at below pic, Sometimes its twice as huge as below one.

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This is why i use Ad Block. :finger:

I perfectly understand AB software is the reasons behind bleeding online revenue but how proper it is to run ADS that annoy and hog waste my precious costly bandwidth. It's time you change yourself first time and be reasonable and then start blocking browsers with AB.

You guys are nothing but a bunch of Sexists who sell SEX. Not news. You want revenue from ads through Soft porn content.

Get over it or get lost! :finger::finger::finger:

Web publishers need to come up with ad formats that don’t frustrate readers

http://factordaily.com/adblock-india-web-publishers/
Click to expand...

Indeed. Rightly said


Edit: Added posts from reddit.
- More info on blocks.
 
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ha ha. was about to post the same about TOI blocking news. I will put TOI in my adblocker so that site never opens. I'm done with this half porn site.

Edit: another site i absolutely hate is vogue. some video stream loads live tv and my 1MBps connection is maxed out at all times. argh. stopped visiting that site too.

3rd site i blocked was indiatoday. keeps loading ads or some javascript in background and manages to hang my FF even with 8GB ram and 8 core processor. I feel like hitting that site with a pineapple.
 
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I too observed the same from today morning. They think of themselves like some leading newspaper of USA.
Good Bye TimesOfBoobs.....
I had anyways started switching away from these individual news portals(cant call TOI even that ) to Google News but I guess its bye for ever.
I had already stopped their print edition almost 6 years back.
 
For the sake of some clarity for others :p
onlyravi said:
I too observed the same from today morning. They think of themselves like some leading newspaper of USA.
Good Bye TimesOfBoobs..
Click to expand...



Someone please post this thread on Reddit.

and also add custom filter and access TOILET sites
@@||timesofindia.indiatimes.com$elemhide

@@||economictimes.indiatimes.com$elemhide

@@||indiatimes.com$elemhide
Click to expand...
 
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Seriously guys, you do not like do not visit it. Simple. Why b**ch about it? It is not as if you are paying to TOI to access their site. No offence Swatkats.

I keep seeing people complaining about sites blocking ad-bloc users. Obviously they do not want our patronage. Screw them.

What really surprises me is that no one has launched a campaign for onscreen advertise on TV. We are paying for accessing the channels part of which goes to the channels as they are pay channels. So, we are paying the channels to watch the content and then we are hit with more than 30% of screen covered with ads. Added to this is the long and frequent breaks. Are we paying to watch ads? At least with TOI I am not paying them.
 
^^ they won't remove the ads from TV but introduce premium ad-free channels. there are lots of them already. don't know how many of them are available in India.
 
skoka123 said:
Seriously guys, you do not like do not visit it. Simple. Why b**ch about it? It is not as if you are paying to TOI to access their site. No offence Swatkats.
Click to expand...
It's not just about "take it or leave it".
It's about killing preference/convenience of a user, AD-BLOCKERS have come in to show when the Ads thing went out of control and have come to a stage where your GB's are being wasted even with your knowledge.This is a serious issue.

Also.. they could have requested to Whitelist their site to support them but look at their high handedness they want you remove the whole add-on.

Being an Ex-Blogger who made money through ads and falling revenues because of ad-blockers. I completely understand the pain but there are series of issues which needs to be addressed before enforcing a ban.
The top 10 news websites in India including Times of India and Hindustan Times are joining hands and taking a stand against people who use ad-blockers. Starting Thursday, users who visit these websites with ad-blockers enabled will be asked to turn them off to be able to get their daily news fix, senior executives and insiders at the Times of India and the Hindustan Times who did not wish to be named, told FactorDaily.

Other publishers who will be part of this ad-blocker blackout could not be independently confirmed but the sources cited above said The Indian Express, The Hindu, Dainik Bhaskar, Amar Ujala, among others, would also participate.
http://factordaily.com/adblocking/
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Well F*ck all.
 
These websites need the the revenue from the ads.
Remember you are accessing the websites for free.
Just put them on your adblock whitelist.

A lot of news website does this including Forbes.
 
swatkats said:
the Ads thing went out of control and have come to a stage where your GB's are being wasted even with your knowledge.This is a serious issue.
Click to expand...
The size of web pages just keeps growing but the actual content stays more or less the same or is even less. You are essentially consuming more data to get the same news than you did a few years back.

it's ridiculous.

Was on the TOi several days back and what a god Damn pain it was. Forget ad blockers ,just navigating that damn site without it auto updating and whatnot. It's like they are preparing the ground for subscribers. Pay and all the crap goes away.

I stopped reading the TOI, over 5 yrs ago. My life has become more peaceful ever since. Deccan Herald is my daily and am happy with it. I mean the newspaper not the website.

Far more efficient, no power cut problem, no bandwidth usage. Easy.
 
ToI website is a case study on shitty UI/UX, they are also oblivious to the concept of comment moderation, every article turns into a cancerous shitfest between religious groups and people of different political affiliations.
 
Ray said:
These websites need the the revenue from the ads.
Remember you are accessing the websites for free.
Just put them on your adblock whitelist.

A lot of news website does this including Forbes.
Click to expand...

Why should users compromise their security to allow publishers to get revenues.
On the other hand, I don't trust ad blockers any more than I trust ads. Remember that for the developers of ad blockers, the ad platforms and providers are potentially a bigger customer than you are. Developers compromising their Ad blocking products in return for payments is not unheard of.

News sites should simply offer a subscription and pay per article model so that users can view the content without ad's.
 
WRT Ad-Blockers.

When i last heard in 2010 that their extensions can read site's data including the credentials you enter. I've stopped doing money transactions on browsers with AB.

6pack said:
The mobile version of these sites don't show as much ads and the annoying page.
Click to expand...
try www.bgr.in from mobile.
 
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