Posted on 11/21/2015 6:13:33 PM PST by Swordmaker
AdBlock Plus users in Chrome and Firefox report seeing error messages instead of their inboxes.
Yahoo may be hoping that access to your email is more important than freedom from advertisements.
Some users of AdBlock Plus have reported that they can't access Yahoo Mail in Chrome or Firefox on the desktop. Instead of seeing their inboxes, the get the following error message: "Uh oh. . . We are unable to display Yahoo Mail. Please disable Ad Blocker to continue using Yahoo Mail."
The reports, first spotted by Digiday, surfaced in the AdBlock Plus forums on Thursday. Andrei Herasimchuk, a former Yahoo designer who now works at Twitter, also claims to be blocked from his inbox.
For now, Yahoo Mail's blocking of ad blockers doesn't appear to affect everyone, as we haven't been able to duplicate it. However, changing the end of the Yahoo Mail URL to "reason=ADBLK_TRAP" does bring up the error message for us, even without AdBlock Plus installed. One possible explanation, then, is that Yahoo is just testing an ad block crackdown to see how users will respond. We've reached out to the company for clarification.
Update: Here's what Yahoo representatives had to say:
"At Yahoo, we are continually developing and testing new product experiences. This is a test we’re running for a small number of Yahoo Mail users in the U.S."
In the meantime, users may be able to circumvent the blocking by opening Yahoo Mail in a different browser, going to Settings > Viewing Mail, changing the view from "Full Featured" to "Basic," and then re-opening Yahoo Mail in the main browser.
Why this matters: Web properties have grown increasingly paranoid about ad blockers, especially now that iOS users can enable blocking in Safari. While these companies do need to pay their bills, aggressive blocking the blockers can backfire, causing users to walk away or, even worse, exposing them to malware. It'll be interesting to see if Yahoo keeps up this experiment, or if the blowback from users causes the company to retreat.
Another fail for Yahoo!
My phone on/off button broke and I ordered another one
from Verizon. I asked the guy to set up my phone.
He said a strange thing about Verizon mail. “Verizon mail
was originally set up for Verizon to communicate with you
only.” He said Verizon doesn’t want to be responsible for
the mail issues they have been having. I get so much garbage
in my email - it seems I have been hacked.
Yahoo! still offers mail? I had no idea.
Say whatever ya want about Google, their spam blocker kicks the feces out of whatever pretend blocker Yahoo! always has used.
The gal from google is running them into the ground. New homepage is unreadable and does not discriminate against ads vs AP news wire. Sports unlegible....who is running their UI design? And finally ymail - been spammed and remailed so many times, I had to drop them. embarrassing to friends and family to use that service! Gmail and outlook are much better managed.
I’ve heard that AdBlock users have been unable to get on TinyPic and Snopes lately as well.
*Never_ever* use the email from your isp for your on-line presence... Get an oline mail (like gmail, hotmail, yahoomail, etc) and ONLY use that for anything online. Your ISP's mail should only be for people you have eyeball with... IRL friends and family...
You will find that the online mail will then be getting all the spam - and they are set up for it - Unfortunately, you will likely need to change your verizon email address before you'll get any peace... But thereafter, do not give it out online for any reason...
Yep. It's crap. Maybe not crap exactly, but mired in the mundane - They are so busy focusing on flashy stuff that they have forgone the very things that made them a great thing - The thing is, every other web portal is focused on the exact same flashy crap, which is why it is mundane.
New homepage is unreadable and does not discriminate against ads vs AP news wire. Sports unlegible....who is running their UI design?
Again, YEP. I got rid of yahoo.com as my homepage years ago - I have been using search.yahoo.com as my homepage forever. Yahoo is all but unuseable - Bouncy flashy crap and 'news' made for 14 year old girls.
Yahoo Launch used to be an awesome place for streaming music - not any more... Image search used to be the best on the web - now it is just 'ok'... Yahoo Groups is total crap now. Geocities is gone. What exactly is left that makes Yahoo stand out?
And finally ymail - been spammed and remailed so many times, I had to drop them. embarrassing to friends and family to use that service! Gmail and outlook are much better managed.
I agree - I almost dumped YMail, but just about that time, they had to open MAPI in order to accommodate droids and phones - But what other apps does Yahoo have?
I don't think it's going away - but it is sinking down into the vast sea of mediocrity, and offering nothing new or useful that one cannot get a million other ways. And it is sad for me to see it so... Much like the demise of Netscape...
Thank you...
You are very welcome : )
I hate Yahoo for all it’s stupid ads and popups. I never use it.
So I see they are forcing ones to use their site with all that crap. Screw Yahoo.
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