I like ads on podcasts: not invasive, support the shows and can't put malwares on my pc. Honestly I find an adblock for podcasts a total dick move (outside of the intellectual exercise part of course).
> Honestly I find an adblock for podcasts a total dick move
If you expect payment for a service, give your "customers" an opportunity to support you directly. It can be a premium account, merchandise, or even a simple donation service. Don't force your "customers" to become the product.
> If you expect payment for a service, give your "customers" an opportunity to support you directly.
...but if that option isn't available, that makes stealing ok? "Hmm, I like this podcast but I don't like the ads. There's no premium support option. Therefore... I will consume the content of the podcast without the ads."
I find this line of thinking a bit immoral, to be honest. The moral option is to not listen to the podcast. And before you jump on me asking if its immoral to go to the bathroom during a TV ad break, I'm talking strictly about algorithmic ad-blocking.
It would be like if I had a place setup where you can get a copy of one of my indie video games I've been privately developing after watching an ad. My place has no option to flat out pay for copies of my indie games. But... you really like my indie games so you decide it's okay to just walk in and steal copies of my indie games until I provide you with an option to pay for them.
Not listening to the ads is so far from stealing, I am almost not sure if you're serious. It's my right to decide whether to rewind a minute, to lower the volume, to skip a whole boring episode etc'. It's also my right to process the content with an app that modifies it, for my own use.
It's not the act of not listening to them that's stealing, it's the act of algorithmically excising them that's stealing, especially (but not exclusively) if there is a premium option available.
For example, watching non-premium crunchyroll with an ad-blocker enabled is dishonest, IMO.
I agree. IMO, using an adblock is not very different from online piracy. The consumer is robbing the content creator of any kind of profit from their creative work. What is so hard about manually skipping the first 1 minute of the podcast? Or turning down the volume for a while?
If we all start using audio adblockers, advertisers will then develop adblock detectors for podcasts. Then, it is likely we will get completely unskippable ads.
The only moral options are to
1) Power through the ads (or fast forward through them) so that you may listen to the podcast for free
2) Become a premium user to skip the ads (unfortunately this isn't always an option)
3) Don't listen to the podcast
I find it strange that you draw the line with the introduction of algorithms. It's somehow less immoral to skip ads if the user has to put some kind of manual effort into it each time? It has the same effect on the content creator.
The content creator is not rewarded by your extra effort. A lost view is a lost view.
> It's somehow less immoral to skip ads if the user has to put some kind of manual effort into it each time?
It's morally grey, in my opinion.
If we can agree that:
1. Using an adblocker on services that offer premium versions (such as Crunchyroll) is dishonest
2. Going to the bathroom/looking away from the TV during an ad playing on Crunchyroll free is not dishonest
Then the morality line is somewhere in between there.
My philosophy is to always support the content creator in some way. To consume content while robbing the creator of their source of income (even if it's pennies) is dishonest, in my opinion. I don't have qualms manually skipping an ad I've already seen 5 times, and can quote buy heart, however.
Many podcasts actually do offer this, either via a Patreon or something like Stitcher Premium. One podcast I listen to (and subscribe to their Patreon) has mentioned that only ~10% of their listeners subscribe and that ads are a much larger source of revenue for them (even doubling subscribers wouldn't make up for this gap).
> One podcast I listen to (and subscribe to their Patreon) has mentioned that only ~10% of their listeners subscribe and that ads are a much larger source of revenue for them (even doubling subscribers wouldn't make up for this gap).
This is interesting, but isn't be an argument against offering a pay-for option. I expect the paying subscribers are more valuable per user, so any user you convert to paying increases your revenue.
Their is a difference between ads and forcing someone to be a product. The tracking software in JS ads is what turns someone into a product in my opinion.
I'm with you on this one. Podcast ads usually are tasteful, non-invasive and moderately used.
The trouble with the rest of the online ad space is that they destroy performance and are VERY invasive.
Tracking and malware are serious issues as well but they're not the main reason for the vitriolic hate. Even if they didn't track you and were vetted flawlessly for malware, they would STILL be avoided like the plague by any user savvy enough to do it.
I wish websites would stop fucking around and realize that there is a limit to the amount of advertising we will tolerate. I like free stuff and I don't mind ads to fund it. But if the annoyance of the ads exceeds the entertainment from the content, you're shooting yourself in the leg.
I personally dislike podcasts that are distributed through CDNs that "personalize" the file by injecting ads (they truly resemble radio ads, in the sense that they are irrelevant and way louder than the episode).
On mobile, I use a VPN that blocks ads or malicious websites, and it happens to block the whole episodes from downloading on such podcasts.
I do agree that some ads can be enjoyable (like the sponsored narrations of the authors endorsing a product in a playful manner -- think "No Such Thing as a Fish" or "Comedy Bang Bang").
I try to support artists that accept donations through Patreon (on a per episode or monthly basis), but this quickly gets expensive.
I would like some sort of way of actually prorating a set amount of money between the podcasts I'm listening to (something like Brave browser, but with more accountability).
I always skip them and I never buy the products. Like with web ads, Adblock here will just increase my quality of life with no cost the content creator.
One of the major problems I have with podcast ads, is the terrible timing of ad breaks. Certain networks have a tendency to ignore the pacing of their show's content, and break into the middle of a dark and serious moment to advertise some idiotic comedy show. It's tasteless and super distracting.
The other issue is that a handful of the shows I listen to that are patreon supported, are starting to introduce insane amounts of ads. One of the shows I listen to, always opens with 5-7 mins of ad reads, and then continues to have smaller, 3-4 min ad breaks throughout the show. It's frankly too much.
I've done my due diligence and left low reviews on these shows, but that really doesn't matter. I'm all for adblockers due to the seemingly brazen injection of more and more advertising in a space that used to use advertising in moderation.
And I totally despise ads on podcasts. I find them very invasive. When I'm listening, I often don't have hands free to fast-forward.
The problem with "premium" podcasts is that every publisher has their own premium, and some publishers don't seem to have a premium ad-free option at all.
What I'd prefer is an ad-free central podcast service or app that I could subscribe to for ad-free podcasts. I'd be happy to pay for that. Failing that, I'd jump on any podcast player that used this technology to skip ads automatically for me.
I hate ad and meta content on highly produced podcasts like 99% Invisible. They waste at least 2-3 minutes at the beginning and end on credits and ads, plus additional ad time in the middle. I already skip past it, it'd prefer if it was skipped automatically.
The same goes for public media beg-a-thons. We get it, you want people to donate. Don't waste 30 min of our time begging.
If you expect payment for a service, give your "customers" an opportunity to support you directly. It can be a premium account, merchandise, or even a simple donation service. Don't force your "customers" to become the product.
I don't see why podcasts should get a pass.