Posted on 01/13/2017 1:49:00 PM PST by qam1
Ad-blockers may seem like an answer to an internet user’s prayers. No annoying pop-ups, no promos before videos and no concerns about accidentally clicking on a virus. But for ad-driven websites, they’re a revenue leech that needs to be pried off.
This is becoming one of the internet's biggest debates. More countries are cracking down on ad-blockers—the EU’s European Commission even proposed a rule this week that would allow media companies to ban users who use ad-blockers. The debate is no longer on the fringes with tech’s biggest names, including Facebook, weighing in.
“Ads support our mission of giving people the power to share and making the world more open and connected,” Facebook Vice President of Ads & Business Platform Andrew Bosworth said in an August announcement last year.
As of 2015, 500 million devices worldwide had an ad-blocker installed, including 181 million desktop users with an active ad-blocking plug-in or used a browser that automatically blocked ads, according to PageFair, an industry leader among advertising recovery—i.e. anti ad-block— companies.
That led to an estimated loss of billions of dollars among websites and online services that rely on advertisements for their primary source of revenue. Nearly every corner of the internet relies on advertising to avoid charging consumers—everything from music streaming to video hosting to news outlets.
So how do anti-ad-blocking tools work? First, these companies run analytics to help websites understand how much revenue is being lost to ad-blockers. Then the companies offer their customers tools that can ask users to accept advertisements, give online users a choice about which ads are removed or allow website users an ad-free experience if they pay a fee—depending on which anti-ad-blocking service
It is “really an access control system,” said Dan Rua, CEO of Admiral, which builds software to strip away ad-blockers. By giving users options and explaining the need for ads, consumers don’t feel like they’re being blindsided.
Getting around ad-blockers could open the dam for a lot of money, especially for struggling industries like free training (think sites like Coursera) and gaming websites. Facebook’s decision last year to create tamper-proof ads that can’t be removed by ad-blockers is expected to yield an additional $720 million this year in advertisement revenue for the social media giant, according to the PageFair analysis.
To see the whole problem, you have to look at how the internet is affected by ad-blockers, Rua said. It’s a matter of whether the internet can continue to remain free and open to anyone. “There’s billions being lost across the industry,” he said. “Nine out of 10 sites that people visit are free, and that’s only because of advertisements working.”
Different sections of the internet are affected more than others—for example, about half of the traffic to technology and gaming websites come from users with ad-blocking tools installed—but the big picture is startling, said Matthew Courtland, spokesman for PageFair.
“Adblock threatens the sustainability of the open web and internet as we know it,” he said. “If revenue is not flowing back to publishers, then the quality, diversity, and interesting content that makes the internet so wonderful will gradually die, and all that will be left will be a smaller number of publishers creating provocative ‘viral’ content for walled gardens.”
At the same time, ad-blocking businesses say they’re protecting the spirit of the open web by keeping power in users’ hands. By allowing companies to force ads on consumers, they’re breaking the spirit of the free internet, said Adblock Plus spokesman Ben Williams.
“When you try to wrestle the control out of the users’ hands, it is something that is anti-web,” he said.
Some users don’t even realize ad-blockers are installed on their devices since browsers like UC Browser, which is popular in China, come installed with ad-blocking software, according to PageFair. And others install it right away as a protection against malware.
“In essence, ad-block has become the new firewall or anti-virus,” Cortland said. “Creating a sustainable solution for ad-block means listening to and addressing these very real and valid security concerns.” He said PageFair doesn’t allow untrusted JavaScript to get through their entryways since they often harbor viruses.
On the other hand, Williams said partial ad-blocking, which is Adblock Plus’s primary model, is a more defensible way for companies to recoup revenue without stripping power from internet users.
“I think there are better ways to help publishers get lost revenue back,” he said. “You can actually work with ad blocking companies to show ads that users have approved, and doing so you work directly with users, so I think that’s a much more healthy and sustainable approach.”
I have metered service via AT&T and a Straight Talk hotspot. Very satisfied with this arrangement.
I strenuously use Ad Block Plus when on the Internet for several reasons:
1. ABP may block malware via ads.
2. Some websites have videos that start was soon as the page loads. This uses my metered service whether I’m interested in the video or not. This pisses me off and I block these videos with Ad Block Plus. I also use ABP on sites where they load a lot of graphics.
3. Some websites, USA Today is one, trap that an ad blocker is being used and will not allow access to their site unless the ad blocker is turned off. My philosophy: I control the content that gets put on my computer, not the website owner. ESADS to sites like USA Today. Typically worthless content.
I don’t want to pay to access every site - especially those I visit only once.
Just eliminating the pop-up adverts would be enough
I use ad blockers. They make otherwise intolerable sites readable. I also don’t seem to get as many digital infections as I used to...
Compromise: Your side stops with the blaring, bleeping, instant video ads with pop-ups and malware and we’ll accept simple banners with no under ads, pop-up ads and no movement of any kind.
I don’t mind ads. I just don’t want ones that demand you take action to STOP it from doing what it wants to do *or* launches a video or makes any motion. I came to that page to see what I expected, not be drowned out by a bunch of competing noise, movement and video that hog bandwidth. This also goes for Twitter feeds.
These sites got too greedy. If they had ordinary ads that you had to click on if you were interested nobody would need adblock. But sites like Breitbart and numerous others run so many scripts that the page is unreadable without either disabling scripts or using an adblock. I can now look at their stories, I just didn’t click on them before.
Go ahead and block me. Let me know how that business plan works for you. I don’t have to visit your site.
you abolish the EU
The EU is a cancer on the American society
In my view, the best solution is to simply insert ads right on the page, preferably in a sidebar.
If I see an ad that interests me, I'll click on it. Popup ads, on the other hand, are the spawn of the devil, and should be blocked by visitors.
It will create a new internet business.
Aggregators, similar to Drudge but listing only sites, not articles.
Pay $10/month for package A, $20 for package B etc. And distribute the revenue to the sites based upon use and subscription.
Usage based Cable TV.
Yes by Brendan Eich; co-founder of Mozilla (Firefox). Who was forced out after supporting Proposition 8 in California.
Totally agree.
I realize that websites have to generate an income some way, but active pop-up ads infuriate visitors, and prompt them to utilize ad blocking software.
The easy solution is to simply embed passive ads on the page, and allow users the freedom to click on them or not.
Ad blockers ought to be outlawed. There’s just too much freedom going on out there on the internet and it’s not good for people.
I got that today, trying to read an article off Real Clear Politics linking to The Atlantic about why the Dems/Commies screwed up so bad and their bleak outlook for the near term.
I was denied access to the content unless I would allow/"whitelist" (is that racist?) their ads.Needless to say, I don't care about their business model and revenue streams/need for clicks and won't be back.
Just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should. These advertisers using annoying, intrusive and even distruptive techniques under the misguided belief that they’re growing their business had better think about the negative reaction building to their practices and consider the damage they’re doing to themselves by continuing to do this. There’s a reason telemarketers are reviled and there’s a reason certain direct mail marketers are disliked. They’re headed in the very same direction for the very same reason. Make your ads and your offers compelling. Make people want to click because you’ve got something that they want. Pique interest. Don’t fake them into clicking accidentally because your stupid banner is timed to jump up over the “next” arrow on the web page when the viewer moves their cursor toward it.
When I get the ‘ad block’ or ‘you have reached your limit of free article views’ message I just reload the link in an ‘incognito’ window.(running chrome)
Works a charm.
Don’t forget that “Brave” is more than an “ad-blocker” browser...Brendan has payment for websites built in. (In lieu of ads). FR could get paid per click!
https://www.brave.com/Payments_FAQ.html
A local club has a new web site. I picked a page from it at random. It had three sentences of actual information totalling 850 bytes. The size of the page downloaded was 1.25 MEGA-bytes. 1/3 megabyte of this was pointless and potentially malicious JavaScript (which was blocked by my NoScript add-on). Another 850 kilobytes was css formatting crap--the main visible effect of which was to hard-code the font size to something I didn't want. With the possible exception of "journalist", I cannot think of any (legal) occupations I hold in lower esteem than that of "website developer."
... What’s even more annoying is to spend >$20 on a blu-ray, only to be assaulted with “previews” before they actually let you watch the program you spent money on.
Imagine going to a restaurant and telling them you don’t need a menu, you know what you want to order.
THEN, they tell you that you can’t order until you have read the whole menu from beginning to end.
Visit these two websites. One time with adblock. One time without.
Hotair.com
Breitbart.com
They are horrible. Our local news website has 2 or 3 autoplay videos that pop up and mousetrap video popups. There is a reason people use adblock. Web designers and advertisers have made their websites so chaotic you can’t get the information you want.
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