Save Your Favorite Blog by Whitelisting It in Ad Blocker
Another favorite treasure of the Internet has closed this week. The Awl announced that it was closing the store, allegedly suffering from the economic instability inherent in today’s “media” industry. In short, they weren’t making enough money, and probably because of ad blockers. Let this be a lesson for all of us: if you want to keep your favorite content (or contribute rather than actively destroy it), turn off ad blocking, at least for the blogs you love to read.
New Yorker Gia Tolentino lamented the closure of The Awl , adding it to a list of non-existent sites loved by niche audiences and hated by major social media platforms precisely because they attracted a small fan base: the content is too absurd to scale. And your Chrome extension, ostensibly installed to punish the most egregious violators of the privilege you apply to, doesn’t help keep your favorite blog alive.
Think of it this way: the writer you adore, the one whose work really makes you laugh, the one whose prose intrigues you immensely, forcing you to share it with your friends, family, and colleagues with appropriate severity in a public Slack channel or thread. iMessage groups? Chances are, they need to eat more than you need to so they aren’t targeted by one of the myriad army of endless ads based on your browsing history, catering to every explicit and implicit desire you hide in your meatbag. How can you help prevent this tragedy from recurring in an area you know and love? Whitelist the site!
How to whitelist your sites
Whitelisting your favorite sites should be an easy task, especially if you pay absolutely nothing for them. Whitelisting a site for the most part means your ad blocker is looking the other way. Ad impressions are catered for, (mute) autoplay videos are all winners.
Ghost
The Ghostery ad blocker extension makes it easy to whitelist or disable all annoying ads from your favorite site. However, we’re here to help your favorite site, so here’s how to do it. Just select Ghostery in your browser, click on the Trust Site option and refresh the page.
Adblock plus
Adblock Plus kills ads in a more responsible manner than other ad blockers and allows certain ads to be considered unobtrusive under the Acceptable Ads Initiative .
Full page ads will disappear, but you will still see some ads in headers and footers, as long as they aren’t too big or confusing. To whitelist a site, click the Adblock Plus icon and select the Enabled on this website option. Refresh the page and let the sponsorship take over. Remember: this is for a good reason.