Adblock Plus lets advertisements squeak past for a fee

[Shawn Knight]

Adblock is a product that millions of people rely on to facilitate a clutter-free surfing experience despite the fact that advertisers and site owners rely on revenue from these services to stay afloat. It’s not perfect as even with the premium Adblock Plus, some ads still do get through – but why exactly is that?

As it turns out, there is an acceptable ads filter that permits certain advertisements to be displayed by default. What has people up in arms, however, is how Adblock selects which advertisers can squeak past the barricade. The company charges a hefty premium for advertisers to land on a whitelisting service, something they don’t exactly hide as it’s mentioned right on their FAQ.

Adblock whitelists select small blogs and websites for free but in order to run the service (financially speaking), the company allows some larger properties that serve advertisements to pay a fee in order to let their ads through.

The problem is that tech giants like Google can easily afford to pay for Adblock whitelisting while small and mid-sized companies that wish to get their name out there simply can’t spare the money.

Having said that, the acceptable ads feature can be disabled by the user but that’s not really what’s at issue here. There’s clearly a conflict of interest not to mention there will surely be some backlash from Adblock Plus users that were previously unaware of this practice. It also brings into question the merits of online advertising in general – all topics that we will likely be hearing more about in the coming days and weeks.

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/53148-adblock-plus-lets-advertisements-squeak-past-for-a-fee.html

 

[Guest]

This is very old news, they stated this a least 2 years ago. You can disable everything or let some "non-intrusive" ads, or specific sites, like "techspot.com", etc.

 

[gkubed]

> millions of people rely on
You still can... just uncheck a checkbox.

If you were completely unaware of this practice, that means it wasn't an issue.

 

[Experimentongod]

How is this news? Sounds more like an "awareness" campaign carried on by the media triggered by Google suddenly paying Adblock.

 

[Camikazi]

Makes me kind of sad that everyone is attacking AdBlock now even though they have been up front about this from the start and it was the users who didn't read about it. It would be different if they were doing it behind everyone's back but it is on their site under features and in big letters too no hiding.

 

[Guest]

Not really news, just use adblock edge if you dont like this nonsense.

 

[Skidmarksdeluxe]

If you don't like the ads then don't look at them or click on them. As far as I'm concerned, ads are just a waste of data but I suppose some are an evil necessity in order to keep some sites free. The odd ones that do sneak through I barely notice anyway.

 

[richiemortuk]

If you don't like the ads then don't look at them or click on them. As far as I'm concerned, ads are just a waste of data but I suppose some are an evil necessity in order to keep some sites free. The odd ones that do sneak through I barely notice anyway.

Daft reply.

Some sites are ruined by ads, its not always possible to "not look at them"

 

[Duckula22]

What about Chromeadblock?

https://chromeadblock.com/filters/adblock_custom.txt

 

[Guest]

Not too long ago I decided to turn off Adblock Plus and noscript on rockpapershotgun, as it's a very good site with quite funny and informative writers. I lasted about 40 seconds without it on. There were autoplaying video ads with full volume right in the middle of articles, along with lots of other ads. If the ads being allowed through ABP are NOT craziness like autoplaying videos then I'm ok with that. There really needs to be some kind of standard for advertising online, but who would regulate it? lol.

 

[Guest]

Install an ad-blocker? shows you are a free loader...

 

[Skidmarksdeluxe]

Daft reply.

Some sites are ruined by ads, its not always possible to "not look at them"

And that's the whole purpose behind Adblock. Try it and you too could find it possible "not to look at them" as you so 'succinctly' put it.

 

[Skidmarksdeluxe]

What about Chromeadblock?

https://chromeadblock.com/filters/adblock_custom.txt

Chrome is Google. Do you think they'd block their own ad?

 

[tipstir]

A few things you can do, is get a better router that can block adverts, or you can update the HOST file or you can use Spyware baster 5.0. Some browsers have adverts block now like Maxthon Cloud Browser. So far adblock plus keeping the adverts at bay. There is also blocker for Chrome you can insert your own code to block frames and such out of FB tool!

 

[Jad Chaar]

That is why you use Adblock not Adblock Plus.

 

[tipstir]

Right Adblock under Chrome...

 

[tonylukac]

It also blocks things that are not ads on Facebook, like requests and likes.

 

[NTAPRO]

No one reads the faq lol

 

[Duckula22]

Chrome is Google. Do you think they'd block their own ad?

Chromeadblock is a name, and it doesn't necessarily imply that Chrome/Google owns or controls any of it, to me it simply implies that it is meant for Chrome, that it runs on Chrome.

 

[Skidmarksdeluxe]

Chromeadblock is a name, and it doesn't necessarily imply that Chrome/Google owns or controls any of it, to me it simply implies that it is meant for Chrome, that it runs on Chrome.

Oh. Ok then.

 

[gobbybobby]

I use an add blocker. But thats only because I find adds intrusive. yes I know some sites need them to stay afloat, but they should do a better job at choosing who can advertise on the site. Flashy adverts, hate them, Adverts that have to be muted, hate them as sometimes you have tabs open and spend 10 mins trying to find where the sound is coming from.