I use ad blockers and open source privacy focused software whenever I can but occasionally I have to use computers that don’t belong to me or an older phone where my usual applications aren’t installed and seeing all the advertisements just feels dirty and dystopian.
I think the worst ads are the text to speech ones that say “Download this app today”. The unblinking energenic people saying you can make a living at home are probably a close second.
I’ll give you an example. I use a site called lacemarket which is a buying/selling site for a niche hobby of Japanese street fashion. It will never be popular enough that enough people would be using the site in order for them to make enough to pay for hosting the site.
So they’re forced to run ad’s cause they have no other way to keep the site up. The owners are also not taking a percentage of people’s sales so they can continue to bring in people who want to use the site. But in order to not take money from the sellers, the only other option they have to keep the site running is ad funding.
It sucks but its too niche to do it any other way.
If it is that niche, it is not a self-sustaining business model (with the evidence for this being that they instead have to sell their users to third parties).
Perhaps it’s just better left to die than to propagate an economic model that commoditizes human beings who aren’t even part of the business?
no, its a hobby community and its been running since at least 2014. There is a demand for it but only in that community.
So letting it die wouldn’t be an option. It’s not a ton of people but I can think of lots of communities that have like 300 ish people in them who would be fucking livid if that site went down.
That’s the very first result I found.
And you need ads to support this!?
No, only like two people run the site.
The groups I’m talking about are the people who use the site to buy and sell the clothes on there.
I understand that. And those people buying and selling clothes on that site can’t afford a buck a month?
They probably could but getting them to is another story. The ads are just easier.
I’m happy that the total destruction of the Internet into a Hellscape of graffiti and malware is helping your 300 people save a buck a month.
I mean, tell those girls that. They’ll dox your ass but I’m sure it’d be worth it to make a point about advertisers.