Why It’s OK to Block Ads (2015)
I doubt that anybody on HN is unfamiliar with the standard arguments for ad blocking. I find them persuasive, particularly the need to protect oneself from the security problems inherent in the third-party adtech system we have today.<p>I would, however, like to add one more. In the absence of government intervention to curb the worst aspects of the Internet&#x27;s &quot;surveillance capitalism&quot; model, the moral imperative to ad block is even greater. If everyone ad blocked, it would devastate the economic value of our tracked data. Would my data mean anything to you if you couldn&#x27;t use it to market to me? (Yes, I&#x27;m sure it would still have some value, but much, much less I believe)<p>Everybody should ad block as aggressively as they can.