Yesterday, Smashing Magazine posted an Op-Ed piece called Why Web Designers Should Not Use Ad Blockers. (Though with a little re-wording, this could easily apply to anyone who accesses content on the web.) The “tl;dr” version goes something like this: web designers (or, again, anyone who consumes content on the web) have a duty to consume ads with their content. Those who use ad blockers are hurting the web design community, and unless we wise up, the author warns:
…we as a community could be inadvertently shooting ourselves in the foot while we try to make our own browsing experience less ad-intrusive, and more comfortable.
While I’m not normally in the habit of rebutting other bloggers, I feel compelled to respond to this.
Those Ingrates!
The author starts by trying to link the strength and vitality of the online web design community to the prevalence of ad-supported blogs. Basically, the argument goes that the community turns on quality content produced by bloggers and design professionals- tutorials, previews of new technology, in-depth analysis, freebies, etc. He says these design bloggers depend on income to sustain their work, and that the time they (presumably) spend not designing should be compensated. Also, our professional ecosystem, our livelihoods, are sustained by the software companies who buy that ad-space, and we, as designers, are honor-bound to consume their ads and- hopefully- be converted into sales.
We should be proud that we are part of a community whose advertisements are often from high-quality software and app development companies. Many of these companies have worked hard to produce useful and beautiful products that assist us immensely in our workflow. Many of such products are offered free of charge, with pay options for enhanced versions. You don’t find that kind of thing very often in other media, so we should be willing to support our advertisers fully, and should from time to time take a look at the products they offer and, if we genuinely find them useful, share them with our contacts.
So basically, without ad-supported design blogs, the web design community would collapse. I disagree. For one, if there’s one theme that’s developed over human history, it’s that anytime people share something- anything- in common, a vibrant community develops around it. The idea that web designers wouldn’t have a community if a few people within that community weren’t compensated for their time is silly. Additionally, online communities have a long, storied history, and got along just fine without ad-supported blogs for quite a while. Would some design bloggers be negatively impacted if the popularity of ad-blocker programs scared advertisers away? Sure. But to imply that the community itself would deflate is intellectually dishonest. The online web design community would be no worse off than the Linux dev community. This is clearly an attempt to shame a particular demographic into upping the eyeball count for a select group of design bloggers who choose to sell ad-space to support their content development work.
All Aboard The Blame Train
The author wastes no time in pulling out his A-Game: Guilt.
Nothing succeeds when individuals are selfish. Ultimately, selfishness will lead to demise because a community cannot truly thrive if the individuals that comprise it are only in it for themselves. When you choose to block ads while you surf the web, you’re basically saying “I only care about my own comfort, and I don’t want anyone else to benefit from my web surfing.” It’s a shame that any web designer would have that attitude.
What would happen if ad blocker plugins started spreading like wildfire throughout the design community, rendering virtually all ads useless? That would be a terrible thing, and would effectively destroy many of our favorite blogs, and would negatively impact many of the very people in the community we claim to be “friends” with.
Classic Straw Man argument. The author is either making assumptions as to the motivations behind users of ad blocker programs, or simply dismissing them as insufficient defense against the scourge of low eyeball counts. Further, it casts ad blocker users as Constitutive Others, saying that these users don’t care about the community- and are, indeed, a pox on that community. If you use ad blocker programs, you are not one of Us- you are one of Them.
There are two things going on here that need mention.
First, the suggestion that ad blocker users are compromising the integrity of the web design community runs counter to one of the fundamental components of the web experience (and, more broadly, computing)- that is, the ability of the user to construct his or her individual experience. The web is about empowerment- the freedom to consume information and content where we want, when we want, however we want. If some people want a web experience free of advertisements, that’s their inherent right. It may run counter to someone’s business plan, and I’m sympathetic to that. But we cannot restrict a user’s right to do that anymore than we can restrict the free speech rights of a political group whose agenda we disagree with. We may not like what they’re doing, but they have the absolute right to do it.
Second, advertisers support the community- not the other way around. Business, and especially their marketing teams, are staffed with smart people. They’ve studied web user’s habits for a long time, and continue to do so. They pick up on trends pretty quickly. They’re constantly thinking of new ways to get their message across. They purchase ad space on design blogs because the opportunity presented itself. If the Conversion Rate fell below a particular threshold that made the practice unsustainable, they’d figure out a better way to reach out to their audience and use it. After all, it’s not like Adobe is just going to stop trying to spread their message to designers- we’re too valuable to them.
On that note, I need to point out a niggling little detail. Advertisers buy ad space on websites based on the site’s traffic. They’re buying eyeballs. But eyeballs aren’t what makes them money. The profitability is based on the Conversion Rate. The Conversion Rate goes like thus: r = x/y, where ‘r’ is the Conversion Rate, ‘x’ is the number of achieved goals (for example, people who click through the ads), and ‘y’ is the number of visits. Websites can’t guarantee a Conversion Rate, anymore than retail outlets can guarantee that everyone that walks into their store will buy something, or a state transportation authority can guarantee that everyone who sees a billboard on the side of a highway will patronize that business. All the website owners can do is present advertisers with their average number of visits per month and make the case for a compelling value proposition. Which makes many of the author’s claims that much more disingenuous.
Who Wins, Who Loses
The author continues with the guilt trip:
Sure, you can have a negative, selfish view of this, thinking that these sites are getting rich because of your web browsing, but that would be a terrible attitude to have. No, these advertisers are not making these website owners rich, they’re putting thousands of dollars into the design community, which is positively affecting all of us.
If we ignore the contribution these advertisers are making, we could inadvertently cause our own little bubble to burst. That’s why it really upsets me when I see design blogs promoting the use of ad blockers, and even worse when I see design bloggers writing about blogs being too ugly because of ads.
This is a good time to discuss who really wins and loses with ad blockers. As I mentioned before, advertisers are smart and adaptable. They also know that they can only bank on eyeballs, and the Conversion Rate is subject to other factors (some of which, like content quality on the site, are outside the advertiser’s control). So, these companies will survive, and find new and creative ways to sell their products to us.
The people who are really affected are the those who maintain design blogs and base a significant portion of their income on advertisement on their site. Like, y’know, the author. His argument is that, without advertiser support, these scrappy design bloggers will be forced to find other ways to make a living. Like, I don’t know, design websites. And if they can’t share their Photoshop tutorials, or their 5 Reasons Why You Should Be Using jQuery Right Now, or their 20 Reasons Why HTML5’s <canvas> Will Change The Web, the web design community loses invaluable resources and declines as a community.
Hmm, okay. But what about all those design bloggers (or designers who blog, or bloggers who design) who don’t make advertisement a central focus of their web presence? Like Matthew Inman? Or Amy Steen? Or Melody Nieves? These are all accomplished designers who sport little or no advertisements on their sites. Why? I would wager that they chose instead to focus on high-quality content to drive their business. I firmly believe that if you’re good enough at something, someone will want to give you money to do it for them. This includes blogging about design. Using advertising dollars to supplement income is one thing. But I believe that, as a designer and/or blogger, if your business goes boom or bust depending on advertising revenue, you need to revise your business plan. One other thing I believe: if you do design blogging, and your #1 focus isn’t on creating outstanding content, the “community” doesn’t need you.
So, beneath the trickle-down economics, and the chastisement of users who complain about the aesthetics of excessive advertisement, we uncover the author’s true message. This isn’t about what’s bad for the community- this is about what’s bad for him. Ad dollars, eyeballs, and conversion rates are good for him- and what’s good for him, is good for the community. (Based on some of his articles, I’m not entirely sure I would agree.) What we have here is someone trying to maintain and grow their business- producing design-related editorial content- by directly invoking the emotionally manipulative language of Community.
At least advertisers are explicit about their intentions.
Make Up Your Own Mind
He finishes with a Call To Action:
As a community, we should take a stand against any person or blog that promotes the use of plugins or other methods that effectively take money out of the pockets of the very people who are willing to put money into our community. I wrote this article because I saw a tweet promoting a roundup of Google Chrome extensions, one of which was an ad blocker. I found a few of the extensions useful, but I wouldn’t bother promoting the roundup myself because I don’t want to promote the use of such a plugin.
If you run a web design blog, don’t promote the use of these browser plugins, and don’t complain about the amount of ads that appear on your favorite blogs — because you probably wouldn’t even know about those blogs if they didn’t have ads on them. Instead, have a balanced view of ads on design blogs, and help support the community by using the products and services that our advertisers are selling (or in some cases, generously giving away).
Let’s drop the pretense and call this what it really is. This is viral guilt marketing. The author is clearly one of the design bloggers who stands to lose the most from loss of ad revenue- and, very likely, may not have much of a backup plan. So he’s appealing to the design community he apparently “loves” so much by bombarding them with advertisements to turn off ABP and boost his site’s Conversion Rate. He’s also trying to shame the design community into adopting behaviors which, in the long run, will make the web design community beholden to bloggers like him and their advertisers in the same way that science fiction fans are beholden to media conglomerates.
And so, I would issue my own Call To Action to the design community: Don’t Fall For It.
Use the web as you see fit. Focus on quality content. Share what you know generously. Give credit where credit is due. Network. Build real connections. Share opportunities with your colleagues. Use advertisement to help cover your costs, but balance that with the need to deliver a compelling user experience. Accept that some users will do things you didn’t plan for and might not even approve of. Design, and blog, for your users- not your advertisers.
(As an aside- I don’t feature ads on Thaumatropia.Net, and I never will.)
