cobweb 2026 edition1d ago
I’m so sorry to inform you, news sites, but when you tell me it’s not a paywall but you won’t let me read the thing without entering my email address… it’s a paywall. I’m paying you with my personal contact information. Actually I’m not paying you, I generally just close the tab.
Show threadMostlyTato1d ago
@cobweb
This is really difficult. No-one wants to give out their private info, but news sites are trying to make money and don't want to give away their content for free.
Why should they employ an entire newsroom to research and report only to give it away for free? If you don't want to subscribe then you have to pay for advertising or no-one is going to pay for the service and it won't exist.
But...I get around this, I don't subscribe or pay, why should I pay when I can get around it?
Show threadAlistair K

@MostlyTato @cobweb I'd be quite happy with advertising if it weren't intrusive. I still read the ads in paper newspapers. But I can't even read the article in the on-line ones, even the same newspaper, without blockers.

And then there are the news sites with auto-play videos. What kind of arsehole makes those? Easy answer: the kind whose news I won't read.

Apr 11 at 9:19pmWeb
Show threadMostlyTato15h ago
@libroraptor @cobweb
Same here. Intrusive advertising and auto play crap force you to use tools that block everything. If they were less aggressive then maybe they wouldn't be blocked so much.
Show threadAlistair K15h ago
@MostlyTato @cobweb Random ads are good, too. Much more interesting than targetted ads – randomised ads tell me about things that I don't know about – surely that's the point, rather than driving me to hate companies that I already get stuff from?