Blocked ad banners.

Is it right to block banner ads and such from being rendered on a page?  We're talking just personal use, ignoring site policies, etc.

Wrong?  Of course not.  Advertisers are paying for the right to display their ads on a web page.  You're under no obligation whatsoever to look at them.

If you were driving down the highway, you'd be under no obligation to read billboards if you didn't want to.  You could just keep your eyes on the road and keep driving.  You can channel surf whenever commercials come on and come back when your TV show returns.  The internet is no different -- you can pay attention to whatever you want, and ignore everything else.

If you block ads, the site may earn less money because there's less views on the ad, and thus the site itself may be hurt for lack of funds.  For that reason, I'll generally not block ads on sites unless they're particularly annoying or gum up my browser somehow.