There are a number of different ways to remove banner ads. You could use your host file, you could install a plug-in, or…. before you go down that path, ask yourself a question, “How much would I pay to view this content?” I am sure there are some sites that you would pay to view the content, but what about all the other ones? Chances are, you would be visiting far less sites.

The unfortunate reality is that banner ads, overlays, prerolls, etc, all ensure the majority of the web remains free.






If you were to remove banner ads from all sites you visit, you are contributing to the decline of free content on the web. You could argue that you are but one person and will not make a difference. But how do you feel about people who don’t pay taxes? What about people who don’t vote? By allowing enduring the banner ads and prerolls you are helping to pay the salary of the person who created the content you are viewing.

Pandora is a great example. They offer free streaming music to their users, but don’t forget that they have to pay royalties to the artists. Not only that, late last year the FCC decided to increase the royalty fees to play copyrighted music. I later heard rumors that if Pandora can’t figure out how to increase revenues, they would have to shut their doors. So what did they do, they took their existing banner ad strategy and grew it. They started adding interstitial ads, audio ads and they even started to limit the amount of free music that you could listen to in a month. For those who hated advertising, Pandora was kind enough to offer a subscription service where you can enjoy unlimited music without ads. But for those who wanted to enjoy the music for free, they dramatically impacted the experience with more ads and limited listing abilities. While it is nice that Pandora offers both a free ad supported version of their service and a subscription option, most sites do not have the luxury of doing this. It is either all or nothing.

A larger example of why you should not disable banner advertisements is net neutrality. Net neutrality is a much larger threat to free web content, but again further supports the idea that everything that you consume is part of some business and that business is in business to make money. If you remove the money you remove the reason to be in business.

So before you decide to remove banner ad, let me ask you these 2 questions, how annoying are banner ads really? And can you endure the variety ads in exchange for FREE information?

If you still feel compelled to remove the banner ads from your web browsing experience…. Well…. Otherwise thanks for not removing my banner ads.