Kristin of “Not So Fast” fame had a great link to whyfirefoxisblocked.com where you’ll find a longer-than-need-be rant about how firefox is blocking ads (Anyone else just hear Tony’s voice in their head say “and this is bad.. because?”). Doesn’t he realize his little tirade is just as likely to convert more MSIE users to the firefox side? I guess he doesn’t.
Furthermore, I don’t mind a site having ads on it – and I’ll even click on them if they interest me (not all marketing is evil) but I am reminded of a quote from the Wizard, Roy Williams:
You’re going to need a day job until folks figure out how good you are. Experience — deep and wide — is essential. If you work really hard and are lucky it’ll still be at least 2 years before you begin to gain some traction. Be committed. Don’t worry; just keep getting better. The kings will find you.
Read the rant for yourself, then come please back and let me know your thoughts about whyfirefoxisblocked.com, ads on websites and your favorite browser (I’m part of the firefox cult, btw).
Popularity: 1% [?]
I don’t block ads, per se. I block pop-ups. If your pop-up has an ad, I didn’t get to see how great you think your product/service is. You can have all the ads you want, they don’t bother me at all. And, I’m “partial” to FireFox, but I use IE as well … depends on what I’m doing and where I’m at
Non-invasive ads, like what Google does when you use their search engine, are fine by me, and encourage click-throughs. However, big gaudy ad-banners with animated gifs or flash only act to encourage me to use things like AdBlock, or avoid the site altogether.
The solution is to modify your ad posting procedure to find the balance between getting the revenue you need for your site and not driving away your visitors. Throwing a fit when they circumvent your poor design will only cause more problems than it solves.