# Adblocking
## My AdGuard Setting on Safari

## Before and After screenshot
### Before:

### After:

### Differences:
The Banner Ads from YouTube before the content is blocked.

## Discussion for three readings:
The smallest things in the universe are first electrons, then quarks, and finally x on the mobile ads. Advertising plays a contradictory role in our digital life. When people shop online, we do need some recommendations, but when a shopping site’s advertising occupies a large area on an unrelated page, it will distract us. For me, the most annoying thing is that when I try to click the x on the ad to close, then Google asks me to do a questionnaire about why you don’t like the ad. So I would like to talk about my experience related to the reading materials.

From print media to digital media, there are diversified forms of advertising. For users, print ads retain their privacy because they cannot track the users’ recent browsing history. However, it is still effective since it is easy to place ads based on content. For the accuracy of its delivery, digital advertising often uses cookies to track the users’ recent browsing. According to Don (2017), one of the strategies advertisers use is called retargeting, which means users can see ads following them from one site to another. This function can be seen as a personal customized service, but it also threatens users’ privacy. Just like the reading says, “I don’t want people to know what I drink in the morning and what I drink at night” (Don, 2017). In the long run, the phenomenon of Banner Blindness will appear. The meaning of this term is people automatically block the web ads they see subconsciously, and finally, cause the failure of advertising.

In daily transactions, there is a bug called Asymmetric Information which refers to sellers knowing more details of the product, such as the defects of the product, but the buyers do not know. In order to deal with that, signaling appears. To be specific, “Advertising spending is a form of signaling that shows that a seller has the money to advertise”, and The costly act of promoting his own goods is a trustworthy indication of his belief in it. Thus, people buying advertised products is rational (Don, 2017). From my understanding, I think ads posted on Instagram is an action of signaling show that the product is trustworthy since the Instagram marketplace is just opened within two years. However, two months ago, I saw a Jacquemus (a fashion brand) recommendation ad that said 40% off appeared on my story page, and the account name and profile photo were all consistent with the brand. When I clicked on their homepage, I found that I didn’t follow this account. The truth is I remembered that I followed the account of the brand (the real official account), so the ads are from a deceptive organization. Therefore, I don’t think ads as a signal offers a 100% guarantee in web ads.

According to Jacob (2016), the ads blocker AdBlock Plus puts more ads on your screen. To be specific, If visitors use Adblock Plus to enter the page, they will see acceptable ads instead of any ads that the site normally runs. In the other words, AdBlock Plus allows websites operators to choose good ads to place on their pages. Back to my experience related to Instagram, I think AdBlock Plus is a good tool to use. The reason is after using this software, Instagram can eliminate some deceptive ads for consumers since they can choose what ads to put. This method enhances the users' experience, but they can’t put all the ads on the website that may decrease the ads profit. So my question is: when facing this paradox, is there a neutral way to benefit both websites and users?