I am one hundred percent sure I have not ever intentionally clicked on or even looked at an ad, nor do I ever intend to, regardless of how relevant it is. I will never click on it.
That's why I use Adblock. It doesn't matter what you're showing me. I don't want it. Ever. This goes for offline, too. I don't watch TV except Netflix, partially because of ads. I don't listen to the radio, just my mp3 player.
"...I have not ever intentionally clicked on or even looked at an ad..."
"I don't watch TV except Netflix..."
It may be a coincidence, or it may not... but I've done research on ads distribution, and Netflix, by itself, represented over 10% of all "ad impressions". All of them. For every ten eyeballs ogling an ad, at least one of them was that insufferable red rectangle (I'm sick of it by now).
So it may be, or it may be not, but you are a Netflix customer. Maybe you were dragged in by the onslaught of banners. Maybe someone you know was, and convinced you to buy. Hard to say.
Possibly. But I'm okay with recommendations by friends - sure they may have been influenced by advertising, but it was good enough for them to recommend it to me. I'm okay with them filtering all the noise out for me.
My argument is not that advertising is all around bad and nobody likes it - in fact I know plenty of people enjoy clever advertising, and probably many people are fine with using advertising as a deciding factor when making purchases.
But I don't. I'd rather no advertising influence me consciously or especially unconsciously. I regard most ads as an attempt by a marketing agent to subvert my rationality when I'm buying a product or service. Of course there's no way to get away from it altogether, and nobody is an entirely rational actor to start with. But I'd like to keep things as best as I can.
Additionally, I find even unobtrusive ads distracting. I've found that even seemingly small changes in day-to-day tasks can have an impact on my ability to sustain concentration, think clearly, and keep going to the end of the day. As another example of this, try going one week without listening to the radio on the way to work. That made a large noticeable difference in my workday. I've also found that watching TV, any TV, tends to disrupt my focus a little even hours after watching. So based on my personal experience, I've come to the conclusion that ads also have an effect on my concentration throughout the day, albeit a relatively smaller one.
Of course YMMV and they really might not influence you at all.
You say you never clicked an ad. If you are visiting sites relevant to your industry you should actually check out the advertisers to keep an eye with what is happening in your industry(new tools, new conferences, new competition...).
Most of the big sites have CPM deals so they get paid for every visitor no matter of clicks or not.
And yes I hate intrusive ads as well and I don't watch TV channels with ads(I mostly watch football and HBO about 1-3 times a week).
If I see an ad for a tool relevant to me, the chance that it's just a repackaged version of an open-source tool I'm already familiar with is almost 100%
> new conferences
I would never go to a conference, especially one that needs to run ads.
> new competition
If they're a threat, I'll hear about them through news or word-of-mouth. Otherwise, just another waste of time.
Your industry only exists for purposes of brainwashing. All other purported uses are better and more honestly served through other means.
I completely agree. You're not losing me because I would've never clicked. If I want something, I go look for it myself. I don't understand why people try to make this a morality issue. You shove ads in my face, I block them, simple as that.
With retargeting ads this days it becomes easier to show relevant and targeted ads.
Actually most HN-ers are leaving huge money on the table right now for not using the highest ROI ad channel - retargeting.