I know a lot of people hate anti-ad-block Popups, but to me they are perfect.
In presenting those popups, those websites demonstrate that they realize the lack of control they have. They show us so plainly that they are unable to make money from us, which leaves them no option but to grovel and beg us to turn off ad-blocking.
Anti-Ad-Block
I am sharing this because I religiously believe in this. Show me another Admiral popup and I am not returning back to your site. I go a step further and add your domain to a dns block list so that I don’t return to your site, ever, even via an accidental click as I surf.
This is the power of the Web Browser running on a less closed platform than iOS (or even Android). Browser choice is good. As the user-agent, you have control. If you don’t want that control, that’s also possible. Despite whatever people are up-in-arms about a specific UX in iOS, it is such a bummer that regulation for iOS was needed to open up to alternative browser-engines.
And yet, despite having a choice to do the right thing and provide it to all users, Apple continues to paint themselves into a terrible corner around browser-choice for the rest of the world.
The web and the web browser are the final bastion of where, you, the user has control. It’s also a place filled with discovery. There are an infinite number of indie-sites that you’ve not yet discovered that are incredibly respectful of your attention, and might even delight you.
In a web browser, we can remove their ability to extract value from us. Those popups don’t make me want to turn off my ad-blocker. They make me want to close the tab.
The people saying the web is dead, or will be dead once Google’s pivot to AI is complete are mistaken. Sure, traffic from Google might die. Heck, Google might die.
The web dependent on traffic is also the web filled with anti-ad-block popups. However, the “web,” the one filled with indie blogs like LMNT or this blog is only dependent on the author and the host to be alive. It’s dependent on passionate individuals and businesses that like to understand their cost structure to keep themselves alive.
My recommendation: if you care about good reading, discovering new people to read, meet, talk to and form communities with, get into the habit of curating your own feed. Choose RSS, choose your people, be part of communities that excite you and rid yourself off your dependencies. They can continue to augment your discovery, don’t over-rely on them.
Everybody is welcome in the indie-web!
The post Welcome to the indie-web! first appeared on @gurupanguji.
This post first appeared on Ramblings Of An Eccentric Soul... | Thoughts, Ramb, please read the originial post: here
