I've complained to some major sites about their advertising, often times so poorly thought out that it basically makes the site unusable. This is on any browser and with systems that certainly do not lack in power to process. In a couple instances the response I got was to actually use an ad blocker.

I'm guessing this was not the official line of the principles of the site.

Anyway, this has become a serious issue and more and more are using blockers to the point that even those not in the tech field or even tech savvy are using them. So it's clearly time to rethink how online ads are done. Making them more obnoxious certainly doesn't mean they'll be more effective.

Morgan Feldon in the comments from Ars' post says it about as well as can be said. "Ad Blocking used to be a power user thing. Then the ads became so visually assaulting, with overlays, interstitials, and popout full screen video and sound, that casual users began to adopt ad blocking software. When Aunt Sally is installing Ad Block, the ad industry has lost the plot. The ad industry needs to regulate itself and come up with responsible standards. Instead they are doubling down, tracking users personal activity and spying on users through their webcam and microphone to try to get more detailed profiles on people.

In short, the ad industry are very publicly committing seppuku. Disinviting the developers of Adblock is like suing the makers of VCRs and thinking "well that will be the end of home recording". How'd that work out?"