I guess I don't understand - if I don't plan on ever clicking on any ads on EO, what would be the difference whether I blocked them or not ?
Additionally, most of the
original content here on EO - at least most of the content that I look at - are
member contributions that are supplied
gratis, with
no expectation of anything
in exchange .....
save for being able to use the forum .....
Not to take anything away from the OTM staff, but in my estimation, it is, to a very large degree, these very contributions that makes the site what it is -
a destination for folks seeking info on this industry ....
If EO were a site where there was no member-supplied content, and only contained content supplied by OTM staff, it's not hard to imagine
how much different of a place it would be .....
To suggest that EO members have some sort of
obligation to view ads would seem to discount the contributions that EO members make, often on a daily basis ..... (for which they receive
no remuneration, other than being able to use the forum for no monetary fee)
One can talk about ad-blocking as "bandwidth theft" as much one wants, but unless one is
also willing to look at the above user contributions
in terms of providing a (essentially) free resource which someone can then leverage and exploit to generate revenue, one is only looking at half the equation ....
If an individual has any doubt as to the truth of the above, I would suggest that OTM management simply shut off the forums as far as posting is concerned for about a month or so .....
and see what effect that has on EO as far as being "The Expedited Freight Information Center" ......
Personally, I don't block any of the ads ...... but the slow load times when I'm on the road and have limited bandwidth can be, and are, at times, very annoying ....
Little piece of advice:
if you want advertising to be well tolerated, then avoid making it annoying ....