Top Companies Paying Adblock Plus to Not Block Their Ads

A  recent Financial Times article has confirmed that Microsoft and Amazon, as well as Google, have all been paying to be included in Adblock Plus’s default whitelist.

The confirmation of a paid deal between these companies and Eyeo (the maker of Adblock Plus) to circumvent the software’s ad blocking just goes to show how these major players see ad blocking as a hit to their bottom lines.

Eyeo asserts that this is all part of its “Acceptable Ads” program which is designed to let less aggressive advertising through the filter and encourage companies to tone down their ads. The program is optional for Adblock Plus users but encouraged. “By doing this you support websites that rely on advertising but choose to do it in a non-intrusive way,” Eyeo says.

On the face of it this may sound like yet another perk for the already wealthy and powerful, however, in Eyeo’s defense, its Acceptable Ads Agreements page clearly states that whitelisting is free for all small to medium websites and blogs who meet the criteria while larger companies are being charged a substantial fee to help finance managing the program.

Regular DCT readers will be aware that I am a strong advocate for allowing non-intrusive ads on sites we visit and use frequently, especially those smaller sites which rely heavily on advertizing revenue for their very survival. Consequently, I believe this is a responsible policy by Eyeo – on the proviso that the same criteria for what constitutes “non-intrusive” advertizing is being applied equitably across the board.

What do you think?

Footnotes:

*According to one report, Adblock plus has thus far granted whitelisting privileges to over 300 sites out of more than 1500 applicants.

*A user backlash in response to the Financial Times article has prompted a number of tech sites to publish instructions on how to disable Adblock Plus’s option to allow some non-intrusive advertizing. It is a simple enough procedure but not something I would personally recommend.

 

8 thoughts on “Top Companies Paying Adblock Plus to Not Block Their Ads”

  1. Janik Lorzen on Facebook

    Corruption reigns supreme in this world of pox-ridden, corrupt arse-holes like Microsoft, Amazon and Google , plus politicians.

  2. Mark Williamson

    Was only a matter of time … said this would come years ago … the idea is to block ads from everyone’s view because “it’s everyone’s choice not to see ads” as they put it years ago, but the argument that little sites can’t exist if they don’t have advertising revenue fell on deaf ears … now the little guys have all but dried up because they can’t afford to keep running their sites, the big guys now move in, make a deal which will let their ads through the ad blocker, and guess what, the ad blockers are now useless … and you are left with all the big boys who are still generating millions every year and pushing their crapware on people !!

  3. Bill Skinner

    Could we call these behaviors monopoly? Would this be allowed in a utility of a financial institution?
    What if I block Amazon, Google, and Microsoft, will my computer cease to work?
    Where is it written that I am required to have Microsoft (Apache open office), Amazon (walmart.com) or Google (DuckDuckGo) ?
    Dave, are these options bona fide?

  4. Jim, I agree if they do as you propose, & they agree…I’m sure you’ll keep us informed!!! Thx

  5. Our whole world is governed by advertising and in some cases it is disgusting. Just look at some television programs where they plaster ads on the screen while the program is on! We are bombarded by advertising no matter what media and I don’t think it is healthy. It is a buy, buy, buy society and I am getting tired of it.

  6. Stu Mountjoy

    It’s a bit like (in my opinion) the race between cops (police/traffic) and criminals – first there were speed cameras, to tell them you were speeding – and you were speeding – then radar detectors, to tell you there was a cop in the area – you were speeding, you would slow down, because there was a cop, pass the cop, and speed up again.

    Then people copied movies and music, so they put in copyright-protection – then the hackers worked around that, and put “how to bypass copy-protection” on the internet (which is illegal to do, but the internet is FREE to store the info).

    And I could talk about PirateBay, being shut down, and started up again – but I won’t.

  7. I think that this is just stupid. I block ads at an ip level using the hosts file with windows.

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