Those Damn Ads

Seriously, ladies over 55, would you really be willing
to try out these particular shoes?  Maybe you would,
but I sure wouldn't!

Today is Sunday, November 3, 2013. 

Facebook has decided to put its advertising into the middle column of the "newsfeed" page so that people have a harder time missing the ads.  I've pretty much reached my limit with the advertising, so last Thursday night I installed Adblock Plus for Firefox, and it immediately cleaned up my Facebook page.  Where there were ads there is now clean, white space, and there are no ads in the middle column – just my friends' posts.  Hallelujah!

The ad that pushed me over the edge was this photo of stupid green shoes that is supposedly something that "women who are 55 or older" might be interested in trying out for free.  I sure wouldn't be interested.  If I were trying out these shoes, I would have to wear a sack over my head.

I realize that Facebook is a free service and that in order to hire people to keep it going on a full-time basis, there have to be ads, but do the ads have to be so intrusive?   I don't think so. 

The other thing that bothers me is tracking.  If I go online to look for books or see what my favorite mail order company has in stock, and especially if I put items on a "wish list," then all of a sudden, I see pictures of the very things that I was looking at on Facebook and on other sites, as well.  I'm just plain sick of it.  Basically, if I didn't order it right away, one of two things is happening: either I don't have the money to order right now, or I decided that I didn't really need the item, after all.  In either case, I won't be ordering for the foreseeable future, and no amount of pictures on either side of my screen or on the top or on the bottom of my screen is going to make me order right now.  In fact, what it is going to do is persuade me not to order any more, ever. 

Another thing that often upsets me is those ads that place a gray screen over the content you are looking at and force you to look at their ad.  Of course, they know that what I am really looking for is the little X somewhere that will allow me to bypass the ad.  Ditto for the ads on the news media sites that either cover up the content or move the content farther down on the page.  I have this growing list of places that I will never again patronize because of their ads.

It's one thing to tolerate a few ads, but another to be completely overwhelmed by them.  Hopefully, this Adblock app will give me a little peace of mind.  :-/