how many players are using an adblocker enough to make an impact?
Given the context in which Modrinth was created, it's likely that their userbase is significantly more likely than average to use adblockers.
The context
The largest host for Minecraft mods is Curseforge, which hosts effectively all Minecraft mods. They intend for you to download mods and modpacks through their ad-infested launcher, and part of the ad revenue is used to pay the mod creator per-download. However, there was an alternate open-source launcher, MultiMC, that used the Curseforge API to download mods without having to see ads. Even aside from that, MultiMC was better than Curseforge in effectively every way.
Some time ago, Curseforge announced plans to step up the ads on their launcher even more and block MultiMC from using their API to try to force users to use their launcher. This sparked a lot of backlash because their launcher was obviously much worse than MultiMC. Modrinth had been around before this, but it gained a lot of popularity in the wake of this incident because people wanted to move away from Curseforge. Modrinth was open-source and allowed mods to be downloaded through MultiMC, which gave people the impression that it was more trustworthy than Curseforge.
However, they had promised from the start that they would have payments to mod creators as well through "ethical ads" on their website. This is a problem for them because their userbase (both mod creators and players) is mostly made of people angry at Curseforge, and thus more likely to be free/open-source software enthusiasts and anti-advertising. That being said, their website is still a lot nicer than Curseforge and they don't push ads as aggressively.
Because Modrinth is still relatively small and payments to mod creators only started recently, the vast majority of mods are still only available on Curseforge. However, Curseforge's protection measures were pretty easily bypassed and PrismMC (the successor to MultiMC) is capable of downloading off Curseforge anyways.
Given the context in which Modrinth was created, it's likely that their userbase is significantly more likely than average to use adblockers.
The context
The largest host for Minecraft mods is Curseforge, which hosts effectively all Minecraft mods. They intend for you to download mods and modpacks through their ad-infested launcher, and part of the ad revenue is used to pay the mod creator per-download. However, there was an alternate open-source launcher, MultiMC, that used the Curseforge API to download mods without having to see ads. Even aside from that, MultiMC was better than Curseforge in effectively every way.
Some time ago, Curseforge announced plans to step up the ads on their launcher even more and block MultiMC from using their API to try to force users to use their launcher. This sparked a lot of backlash because their launcher was obviously much worse than MultiMC. Modrinth had been around before this, but it gained a lot of popularity in the wake of this incident because people wanted to move away from Curseforge. Modrinth was open-source and allowed mods to be downloaded through MultiMC, which gave people the impression that it was more trustworthy than Curseforge.
However, they had promised from the start that they would have payments to mod creators as well through "ethical ads" on their website. This is a problem for them because their userbase (both mod creators and players) is mostly made of people angry at Curseforge, and thus more likely to be free/open-source software enthusiasts and anti-advertising. That being said, their website is still a lot nicer than Curseforge and they don't push ads as aggressively.
Because Modrinth is still relatively small and payments to mod creators only started recently, the vast majority of mods are still only available on Curseforge. However, Curseforge's protection measures were pretty easily bypassed and PrismMC (the successor to MultiMC) is capable of downloading off Curseforge anyways.
deleted by creator