Anti-Adblock Killer extension prevents sites from blocking your ad-blocker

[Scorpus]

Wired caused a bit of a stir earlier this week when it announced that it would block anyone who uses an ad-blocker from viewing its site. Worried that adblockers would eventually prevent them from making any money from their articles, Wired is rolling out technology next week that will detect and block ad-blocking extensions.

It seems like Wired's efforts to block ad-blockers may be a bit fruitless, as a new extension has appeared for all major browsers that allows you to keep your ad-blocker enabled, even when a website asks you to disable it before viewing content. The extension, known as Anti-Adblock Killer, essentially tricks websites into thinking that you aren't running ad-block at all times.

The extension has basically started a cycle of blocking and unblocking technologies. First, users blocked ads through very simple extensions, and then publishers fought back by developing tech that could block users running ad-blockers. Now we're essentially seeing the 'ad-blocker blocker unblocker' to remove any restrictions from ad-block blocks.

The Anti-Adblock Killer extension is said to work against a wide range of ad-blocking technologies used by various publishers and websites. It's currently available for Chrome, Firefox, Opera and Safari through a script manager, with installation instructions available through the project's GitHub page.

Now it's only a matter of time before we see technology that blocks ad-block blocker unblockers.

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/63799-anti-adblock-killer-extension-prevents-sites-blocking-adblocks.html

 

[Technician]

Completely moot, my ad blocker hasn't been blocked successfully.

 

[Mister_K]

So we will need an anti adblock to prevent ads that are blocking adblocks that block adblocking ads.... you get the drift...

Seriously.. The War on Ads and Adblockers is real...

 

[Yynxs]

After some long discussions elsewhere, I wonder if it would change the discussion any to call these 'spyblockers'? Would people view Wired any differently if they said, 'We're taking action to block these Spyblockers." They get paid by advertisers for tracking and spying on you to serve up these targetted ads.

 

[wiyosaya]

After some long discussions elsewhere, I wonder if it would change the discussion any to call these 'spyblockers'? Would people view Wired any differently if they said, 'We're taking action to block these Spyblockers." They get paid by advertisers for tracking and spying on you to serve up these targetted ads.

I agree with your viewpoint. Sometimes reframing the conversation from a different viewpoint makes a difference.

 

[RustyTech]

"Now we're essentially seeing the 'ad-blocker blocker unblocker' to remove any restrictions from ad-block blocks."

Oh boy..I see where this is going... What's the movie called?

 

[MonsterZero]

"Now we're essentially seeing the 'ad-blocker blocker unblocker' to remove any restrictions from ad-block blocks."

Oh boy..I see where this is going... What's the movie called?

Anti-ad-blocker inception-blocker killer

 

[Camikazi]

"Now we're essentially seeing the 'ad-blocker blocker unblocker' to remove any restrictions from ad-block blocks."

Oh boy..I see where this is going... What's the movie called?

Thinking about The Big Hit with Mark Wahlberg? The Trace Buster Buster to bust the buster who is trying to bust your trace.

 

[Experimentongod]

I have seen some sites that successfully detect Adblock Plus and try to block content, this could be useful, installing.

 

[umbala]

I don't want to be tracked or served ads on the internet, TV, or radio. PERIOD. I don't care if all these sites and companies go out of business or their employees starve to death. I will never look at ads on the internet or on TV no matter what reasoning they try to use to justify them. If they can't find a business model that makes money without bombarding their users with ads then maybe they shouldn't be in the business at all.

 

[Gaara]

Anti-Adblock Killer extension REALLY? who want to install this adblocker killer in the browser in the first place? .. who want ad to slow down your internet browser?

 

[Scshadow]

I don't want to be tracked or served ads on the internet, TV, or radio. PERIOD. I don't care if all these sites and companies go out of business or their employees starve to death. I will never look at ads on the internet or on TV no matter what reasoning they try to use to justify them. If they can't find a business model that makes money without bombarding their users with ads then maybe they shouldn't be in the business at all.

Entitled much? If you feel so entitled to not seeing or watching ads, I hope you feel entitled enough to stay off those sites altogether. They are providing a product in some form or other and you are consuming it. The business model they choose determines what they require for you in payment. You have every right to say no, you do not have every right to say no to just what you don't like. I mean hell, why can't we do it in real life? I like buying a new computer. Paying for it? Ummm... no thanks, I don't like giving other people my money, I refuse to do so. People really don't have a problem with Ads, they have a problem with ads on stuff they like too much to give up.

 

[RustyTech]

Thinking about The Big Hit with Mark Wahlberg? The Trace Buster Buster to bust the buster who is trying to bust your trace.

YES! this is it! lol

 

[cliffordcooley]

Interesting! First the need for an Adblock and now a need for an Anti-Adblock blocker.

So in the future which will need updating more frequently? hahaha

 

[captaincranky]

So we will need an anti adblock to prevent ads that are blocking adblocks that block adblocking ads.... you get the drift...

Seriously.. The War on Ads and Adblockers is real...

During the cold war, this concept eventually developed into "MAD"! (Mutually Assured Destruction).

 

[davislane1]

I don't want to be tracked or served ads on the internet, TV, or radio. PERIOD. I don't care if all these sites and companies go out of business or their employees starve to death. I will never look at ads on the internet or on TV no matter what reasoning they try to use to justify them. If they can't find a business model that makes money without bombarding their users with ads then maybe they shouldn't be in the business at all.

Entitled much? If you feel so entitled to not seeing or watching ads, I hope you feel entitled enough to stay off those sites altogether. They are providing a product in some form or other and you are consuming it. The business model they choose determines what they require for you in payment. You have every right to say no, you do not have every right to say no to just what you don't like. I mean hell, why can't we do it in real life? I like buying a new computer. Paying for it? Ummm... no thanks, I don't like giving other people my money, I refuse to do so. People really don't have a problem with Ads, they have a problem with ads on stuff they like too much to give up.

This is the best knock on government schooling I have seen in quite a while. Bravo.

 

[psycros]

I don't want to be tracked or served ads on the internet, TV, or radio. PERIOD. I don't care if all these sites and companies go out of business or their employees starve to death. I will never look at ads on the internet or on TV no matter what reasoning they try to use to justify them. If they can't find a business model that makes money without bombarding their users with ads then maybe they shouldn't be in the business at all.

Radio ads don't track you. Neither do most TV ads unless you are foolish enough to have a "smart" TV or something like Cortana running without taking appropriate precautions. If you're still opposed to TV and radio ads then you better listen to nothing but Sirius and watch nothing but HBO and other ad-free pay channels.

 

[FF222]

Sounds like a completely illegal extension that could get smashed by DMCA any time. Blocking ad blockers is a form of copy protection, and circumvention of that is a clear violation of the DMCA.

 

[cliffordcooley]

Sounds like a completely illegal extension that could get smashed by DMCA any time. Blocking ad blockers is a form of copy protection, and circumvention of that is a clear violation of the DMCA.

From that perspective so would the adblocker, not just the anti-adblocker. And to be honest, I don't see why DMCA would care.

 

[williamoliveira]

Yo daug, its an ad blocker blocker blocker

 

[wastedkill]

Next we will need a anti anti-adblocker tool to prevent sites from stopping the anti-adblocker from working.. xD

 

[havok585]

Interesting! First the need for an Adblock and now a need for an Anti-Adblock blocker.

So in the future which will need updating more frequently? hahaha

Just use Greasemonkey + AntiAdblockKiller by Reeks and done!

 

[gcarter]

I think it depends on the site. If you find that the admin is going hell for leather to stop you entirely from accessing, then I agree with the other posters, just boycott the buggers.

However sites like http://next-episode.net/
they have a cheeky little countdown timer on each navigation which gives you x3 options

1) Wait for the countdown to finish before the link loads
2) Whitelist their site, which shows some descrete ads
3) Pay a reasonable price to have no ads whilst you navigate

I take my hat off to sites such as this

 

[JeromeFree]

Publishers (including myself) are losing tons of money because of adblockers, so this war is inevitable.

 

[captaincranky]

Publishers (including myself) are losing tons of money because of adblockers, so this war is inevitable.

Be that as it may, the war is between websites, Yahoo, and the people who write the ads.

First off, you can't sell a new Caddy in every spot you buy.

Second, good, useful , everyday product, sells itself. It's the garbage and the superfluous, which requires endless harping to get it out the door.

But most importantly Yahoo (*), will take anybody's money for ads. It makes all kinds of extravagant claims for the power of its ads, (in other words, its "ad-ads"). If the product is crap, Yahoo isn't going to turn down your advertising revenue. As a consequence of this, they turn around and blame the ad blockers, and play stupid about the product's viability. That's how capitalism works, it's nobody's fault but the other guy's. It's certainly not you or your products fault, since I'm in the process of giving you the big waltz for your money.

IMHO, Google, Yahoo, the lot of them will sell you a big bill of goods on how much good they can do you in moving your product. If it's a white elephant, if it breaks the day after you buy it, no matter, somebody's going to take your advertising money to "pretend to move it", then blame it on ad blockers if it's a dog.

Most importantly, there's only so much currency in the world, and you can advertise down to your last dime, if the money's not there, no one can buy it. The principles of supply and demand attach to currency as much as any other commodity.

(*) Yahoo has been whining bitterly about ad blockers too.