I Hate Online Ads

Can you believe how aggressive online ads are getting? The Washington Post has to be one of the worst, or maybe the Huffington Post. Right when you think your page has finished jumping around and reloading (to accommodate all their stupid ads), the page starts jumping around again. It’s getting really bad, with nonstop video ads that you can’t even find to X out of. And even if you stop one, another one starts. It’s digital Whack-a-Mole.

More and more lately, I just click off.

I was trying to read this article about how J.Crew, the clothing retailer, is sucking wind because they haven’t yet figured out that all women customers aren’t prepubescent zero-body-fat clotheshangers, but I got discouraged.

Maybe you’re thinking a paid subscription would protect you. You would be wrong.

I subscribe to the New York Times and Los Angeles Times and they’re almost as bad. If it gets any worse, I’ll cancel my subscriptions. I still read an actual paper paper every morning and I can live with that. My local paper, the Riverside County Press Enterprise, is for the most part doing a good job. And I can always use the editorial page to pick up dog droppings.

I know, it’s high-class worries, right? Guilty. But still.

Re the J. Crew article, I hit the mute button and read the article. Enjoyed it. Even shared it on Twitter. And in my tweet, I added this in all caps: MUTE TO THWART ADS. I totally recommend you do the same. Pretty soon, it’ll be standard practice to surf the internet with the sound off. Maybe everybody already is and I’m the last to figure it out. True with you?