>It takes about 30 seconds to install an ad-blocking extension.
I'd be willing wager that those 30 seconds of barrier would deter like 70-80% of the computer using population. Very few people as a whole know or are comfortable with browser extensions.
If it was only a dollar or two per month and not a -complete- pain in the ass to sign up for, I'd probably pay anyway.
I wonder if you could encourage the people who hate ads but would happily take a legitimate option by detecting ad blockers and instead of haranguing them for it, put up a polite advert for how to legitimise their ad free usage? (thinking in general, not just for twitter)
That's a good idea. Just the other day I turned off Ad-Block on the Let's Play Archive (http://lparchive.org/Dwarf-Fortress-Boatmurdered/) because they had a little banner message that asked me nicely if I would consider it.
Is it wrong that I blame IE for a lot of this? I feel like IE was a major factor in ramming the "DON'T INSTALL TOOLBARS / ACTIVEX ADD-ONS NOT NO WAY NOT NO HOW" knowledge down consumers' throats (and that still remains good advice).
I'd be willing wager that those 30 seconds of barrier would deter like 70-80% of the computer using population. Very few people as a whole know or are comfortable with browser extensions.