[Drumlin]

Does it matter if they stop visiting the site? Considering that they are using resources without giving something back in return? I guess it could be argued that they might be promoting the site to other users.

Other than that, they are essentially freeloaders and if a website has too many freeloaders it has to either get rid of them or convert them to something else. Or, I guess, the website could shut down completely.

[literallycancer]

>Considering that they are using resources without giving something back in return?

Funny. Ads are consuming CPU time and electricity that I pay for in addition to my attention and time, and compromise my decision making. To me, any of those are infinitely more valuable than resources the website expends on serving ads or trying to.

[LordKano]

Does it matter if they stop visiting the site? Considering that they are using resources without giving something back in return?

Buzz. I block ads but I also post links to articles on social media that are then followed by people who do not block ads.

I have a couple of areas of focus where I am exceptionally knowledgeable and people who have anything more than a passing interest in those subjects check out links I post.

Or, I guess, the website could shut down completely.

The tragedy of the commons.

[pc86]

If you're going to pirate a movie, you're probably not buying that movie. This is why on the whole piracy doesn't actually affect bottom line that much. Sure some folks would have rented it from their cable provider for $6 or whatever, but on the whole if you're going through the trouble of finding a good torrent and downloading it, you're not in the market to spend money on it.

Just the same, if you have an adblocker installed it's unlikely you're the type of person who is going to be clicking on ads anyway. And PPC ads are much, much more prevalent than impression-based ads. So if someone is blocking your ads, you're not losing anything. You get paid when someone clicks an ad, and if they're going to the trouble of blocking all ads, they're not clicking anything anyway.

You create a system where they won't or can't visit your site, and your traffic decreases, which will have an effect on your ad rates.

[Drumlin]

Impression ads are important for certain industries and bigger publications. I will agree that PPC ads are common in other areas and ad blocker users wouldn't click them. For impression advertising the ad blocker will result in lost income. PPC ads are the option of last resort for an established publisher because they are almost like gambling.

[pavel_lishin]

> Does it matter if they stop visiting the site?

You can have all the ads you want, but if people aren't visiting your site - and sharing links to it, talking about what they read there, recommending it to others - they're not going to get you much revenue.