Are Ad-Blockers Saving Internet Users, or Ruining the Internet?

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.”

The way to deal with this is to place the ads as content in a site instead of using these annoying weblinks that stream crap to your computer and hog up all your bandwidth.<<<<<<

Yep! And if you’re going to make them blink and or jump off the page and all but leap off the monitor to claw my eyes out, then I’m going to either block you, OR not bother with your site, at all.

If you’re going to use banners that take up half my screen, and follow me downward as I read...I’m done with you.

The fact of the matter is that *I* don’t *Need* your ad. If I want any product at all, I know how to use a search engine to find it.

Aside from not being able to control the content I want, TV is so obnoxious with ads during programming that I don’t turn the TV on unless there’s a major disaster, a potential disaster (tornado etc). If I want to see a movie, I’ll purchase a video, or borrow one, or find one online (using ad blockers of course). 99% of so called tv entertainment is such poor quality that it’s not even worth the electricity to run it! And, I REFUSE to pay for cable, and even if I could, I would NOT subscribe to ‘premium’ movie channels unless they are ad free.

I don’t know about you all, but I didn’t go online to make someone else wealthy. If I was walking down the street and saw your sale sign in your store window, would I be violating something if I chose not to stop and read the sign, or go into the store? Well, I’m not obligated to deal with your internet trash, either!

If you’re a store, I might wander through, see what you have at what price and then walk out without purchasing a thing. Did I violate your electric bill or your heat bill for opening your door? NO.

If you force your sales person to hope all over the sidewalk with a sale sign for your product and I drive by, did I violate some obligation to stop and read your sign? No. The fact is, I’m probably NOT going to do business with you at all, ever because of the way you treat your employees during weather extremes. When you get in my face and all but demand I do business with you so YOU can score brownie points...Iwon’t. I’ll remember that and do my business elsewhere.

Because if you were doing a decent business, you wouldn’t have to resort to such tacky tactics in the first place. You’d be too busy! The fact that you aren’t tells me that your business isn’t very good. Same thing on line.

People don’t just go online to shop. I almost never, ever, shop online. My financial info is NOT in my pc or browser because I can’t trust what I can’t see to take what little I hardly even have. It isn’t going to happen.

Competition is good. If you have a real, physical business, make it worth your local’s customer’s while to give them the best, at the best possible price. You are too easy to replace. Your customer on the other hand, is difficult to replace. Treat them RIGHT.

Today, I went to Best Buy because my neighbor needed to go there and he asked me for a ride. I browsed, and I had a BLAST! I saw Super HD TV’s and was simply amazed at the detail. It was awesome! I felt like I was looking at the real scenary. I’m sold despite not having a dime. And I don’t even like TV!

I went all over the store looking at things on my wish-list..tried this and that...Ipads, Bose Computer speakers, dishwashers, Kitchen Aid Fridges with the drawer in the middle, small chest freezers, printers for the computer...I redid my whole house in my mind according to my wish list. As I browsed a few sales folks asked if I needed assistance. Sometimes that can be a PITA. Then one guy said to me, we don’t get any commission so we won’t pressure you to buy anything. We’re here to answer any questions you might have! I LIKED that! Good service, and the prices were awesome. Huge storewide sales if you’re into what they sell and intend to buy.

The difference...I went there on my own. I wasn’t pressured to go there, or pressured to buy anything so I had a fun window shopping experience. If and when I have a buck to spend, I’ll check back with them. They didn’t make any money from me today, but in the future, they are on my list of places to go if I have the money for the item I want. They made the sale, just not today.

sorry for the long windedness. It’s a touchy subject for me lol!

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