A discussion at reddit. Is it ethical to block online ads using your brower? My personal opinion: Hell, yes. I don't block Google Ads and I don't block flash ads at many sites where ads are relevant and show some taste. Site owners and advertisers who invoke guilt ethics could do better.
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Since Flickr is being an ass these days and won't let me share images with you that they don't approve of, which includes just about everything I put on my blog and no doubt includes screen shots of ads that I am using to illustrate my points, you'll just have to accept that I am not misleading y
Watch out, because now your ISP will have the power to insert their own ads into the html streaming through their pipes.
In case you hadn't noticed, the advertising present on the top and right of the blog has been a bit odd lately. Dr. Oz's smiling face has been showing up above mine, you may have just won $59, your teeth can be whiter than white, and last but not least human trafficking in "Russian brides".
I may be a little late to the party, but that's because my laptop happens to have ad blocking software installed.
You can make a sort-of distinction between blocking them by not downloading them on one hand, and downloading but never displaying on the other (the Firefox Adblock extension can be set to do either). In the latter case it's a simple case of you choosing how to display the downloaded material; you can choose what and how big a typeface to use, how and whether to show images and so on. This is no different. On the other, by never downloading the ad files you are potentially cheating the site owner of a needed bit of statistic for their sponsors.
So to be morally just a little more safe (and I do think either is fine), set Adblock to download but not display.
I'm with you, Selva. I have a hard time seeing an ethical obligation to be bombarded with advertising.