Letters
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Pay to block ads? Most people will just ignore them
Facebook doesn’t appreciate the long-term effects of charging people to block adverts (Issue 720, page 7). Some people might want to pay for this privilege, and good luck to them. But most of us will just put up with adverts but pay far less notice to them. That’s because by treating them as something ‘bad’ to avoid, Facebook is stigmatising adverts. It’ll probably backfire and mean fewer people click them.
This is true all over the web and on streaming services. It’s a doom loop. As adverts continue to be seen only as something irritating to avoid, so advertising companies will have to make them louder and more vulgar to grab attention. That makes them even more irritating, which leads in turn to people ignoring them with greater determination.
Contrast this to the golden age of TV advertising – the 1970s and 1980s. You often heard people saying back then that the ads were better than the programmes themselves. They were certainly wittier and less patronising, and viewers didn’t mind watching them. They were part of popular culture, endlessly quotable. I doubt anyone can remember a single online advert they’ve seen this year.
Bill Fleming
I’ll forgive ChatGPT anything if it gets rid of CAPTCHAs