Reddit shoots self in face, makes my Internet faster/awesome.
You never know which click is going to set of a wave of discovery. Today, a friend of mine posted a link to a story on Reddit.com (does Reddit have stories? Compilations? Aggritoriums? I really have no idea what Reddit is trying to do). I do assume there's an expensive office somewhere with about 100 people talking about how the founder is going by a two-letter-name now and ignoring the fact that they have never generated even one U.S. dollar of actual profit.
I also assume they plan on, someday, making money by selling ads. Such is the fantasy.
Today, when I clicked over there I was served the following ad:
This should immediately strike you as the single dumbest move ever. If it doesn't, fire yourself. Likely someone who's been called a "tech star" by at least one blog and their college newspaper thought this would be a cheeky thing to put on their site when there was unsold inventory. Apparently no one at Reddit cares that despite wanting to make a living selling ads, that they have effectively posted an ad for AdBlock... and a really good one at that.
You see for those of us (most of us) who hadn't heard of AdBlock, "Thanks for not using Adblock" translates to, "Hey, there's this thing called Adblock, it blocks ads like this!"
This brings us to my Internet being awesome. It took roughly fifteen seconds and $0.00 to install Adblock and I'm now flying through the Internet like I took my broadband connection and arrived in 1995. Without having to load 15 different ad-networks, on 30 servers, with 65 different bits of tracking code just to look at NHL.com, it loads like a text file. It's amazing. Even Facebook loads at least 40% faster without having to pull up some ridiculous ad for Mortgage Re-Fi starring a chick with a back-tat.
That's why I don't feel bad about blocking ads on the Internet. As a champion of "I'm willing to pay for things that are good and that I like," it may initially strike you as hypocritical for me to shirk the system like this. The system, which involves dickhead "tech stars" parading around like they're changing the world while selling expensive ads to Giuseppe's Pie Shop that no one will ever care about, should end - and soon. Giuseppe needs to understand that just because some sassy lad on the phone told him "digital is the future" doesn't mean it's going to sell any more pies. Especially since his ad is being served to people in Oregon who don't want his pies in San Diego.
So I say, Suck It, The Internet - and thank you Random Tech Star at Reddit for getting fired so I can read articles on AdWeek about how Digital is the Future faster because I've blocked said future.
