Look, this is slightly awkward, but I’m not gonna sugarcoat it: Reading stuff on the web these days can be a pretty painful experience.
You know what I’m talkin’ about, right? (Insert awkward pause here.) On most modern websites, you’re bombarded with an army of over-the-top pop-ups, promos, and other assorted ads every time you try to open up an enticing article. (Insert awkward eye-darting here.) Media is a business, of course, but still: As a mere mammal trying to ingest interesting info, it can sometimes get to be a bit much. (Insert forced awkward smile here.)
The business part is what makes the whole thing especially tricky — ’cause for better or for worse, online publications and the lowly internet scribes who power ’em rely on revenue from all that advertising in order to exist. That means if you use some sort of aggressive ad-blocker, you’re hurting that company’s odds of survival and potentially also jeopardizing the content creators’ ability to earn a paycheck.