AdBlocking

Dailymail.co.uk without an adblocker

In this screenshot there are three visible ads, with more appearing further down the page.

Dailymail.co.uk with an adblocker

In this screenshot, the three ads that were previously visible have been removed, resulting in a far cleaner viewing experience.

Adblocking Response

I am an avid scuba diver. I am also an avid 'collector' of credit cards. It was to my amusement and concern that I saw an ad for the Delta Platinum Skymiles credit card appear on my Instagram feed, where I post and engage with a lot of scuba diving content. I engaged with that advertisement but I didn't end up getting the card then. A week goes by and I see another Instagram ad from Delta.

At that time I was actually doing a lot of research for a scuba diving trip in the Carribean and I believe Delta was able to capitalize on that data to try and push this card to me. The deal was great and I did end up getting approved for the card and I used the $500 back to book a trip to Grand Cayman which possibly makes the case for targeted advertising as being beneficial.
Seeing that ad was in-line with my interests and provided me with a net benefit that I probably would not have recieved had it not been for targeted advertisements. If I have to recieve advertisements, I think that I would prefer them to be targeted. It would be more beneficial to the advertisers and hopefully it would help me see things that I would want to purchase. Ideally, this should mean recieving less ads.Targeted ads are far more expensive to advertisers than sending ads out randomly, "spraying and praying". I would definitely be more receptive of targeted ads if it meant recieving fewer ads in total.
One exciting move forward in the advertising space is having the advertising pass the costs of advertisement back to the consumers. This is manifested in credit card offers, Like AmexOffers and Chase Offers but notably now through Rakuten (after they purchased Ebates). Rakuten pays the consumer cash back for each order they make through its web portal on major companies like Amazon, Nike, etc. I like this form of advertising far more because I recieve money in turn for shopping with specific companies which is far more meaningful to me than simple ads and giving cash back would cost no more than bloated marketing campaigns.
Although Rakuten is great, not all companies can advertise through them, thus the need for digital ads remain. I use Adblock Plus and I'm a fan of their ad-placing feature, particularly for websites that I want to support that aren't making a lot of money. For most smaller publication online news sources I'll use their acceptable ads feature so these small-time publications can still make money from my views even if I want to switch up their often poorly positioned and chosen ads for different ones that allow me to more easily consume their material.