[gpm]

Reasons to despise ads?

> they are unsecure, often outside the control of the site owner and heavily rely on tracking.

- They attempt to influence me into buying things I do not want or need.

- They take up some of my attention, a resource that I consider very valuable.

- They create perverse incentives to create content that advertising buyers appreciate (particularly worrisome when we are talking about a browser, that I have to rely on to not sell out my privacy).

- The are often promoting things that are often objectively bad for me (e.g. energy drinks).

- They apply all sorts of psychological tricks, many with negative consequences (e.g. implying that I look bad).

The fact that Mozilla wasn't paid for this means very little. This is clearly Mozilla experimenting with a new channel of advertising that could be monetized in the future if successful.

[wadkar]

Thanks, I finally found in your reply what I couldn’t put in words to my family and friends. Is there any quantitative or qualitative evidence to improve (make stronger) point #2 ?

Edit: I am talking about attention when I said #2

[kiriakasis]

My point is that ads are essentially the only way to gain visibility for a lot of products.

The fact that internet ads are in such an harrowing situation is a consequence of perverse incentives on ads delivery and reliance on clickbait titles.

wouldn't it be nice if there was a culture of treating your own site or page as a place for "editor choices"? If there was a model of trust between page owners (or admin on social media) to choose quality advertisements in a model similar to television? (I do not live in the US, here television ads are mostly reasonable)

My point is that ads are not just a way to monetize your own page, they are also a way to allow easy product discovery. In may opinion, before you can call them purely evil it is right to also point out the beneficial effects they do have.

Also many of you point also apply to most modern journalism and articles online. They are strong negative point but they do not imply that a whole practice is irredeemably evil.

[mping]

Don't forget they track you in very ingenious ways, effectively eroding your privacy.

[stevenwliao]

> my attention, a resource that I consider very valuable

How much would you pay for a browser?