Ads: To Block or Not to Block?

Tweet

I have installed an extension called AdBlocker to the Chrome browser on my laptop. By default it blocks all or most ads on every website I visit, resulting in an easier and less cluttered experience for me, the viewer. I feel no hesitation in blocking ads on Facebook or Google, where the owners are effectively selling my personal data to advertisers and offering me no recompense in return, beyond the free use of their website. But what about smaller, independent websites, whose only source of income may be the result of a relatively low number of ad impressions (views)? A few actually pop up a message urging you to disable your ad blocker on the site. Some even block your use unless you stop blocking ads, and while that may seem harsh, I think it's understandable to some degree. But on a site like MyLot, where the site owners are actually paying us to use their site, they are sharing the revenue from advertisers, so I believe there is a moral obligation to disable your ad blocker, so as to at least help them earn that income. My understanding is that the amount of revenue gained from advertisers depends on number of views, as well as on number of click-throughs. So we can all help MyLot earn money by not only disabling our ad blockers on the site, but also by clicking on some of the ads. One thing we can be sure of, if all of us users blocked the ads, there would be no income for MyLot to share with us! What's your take on this?