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Ad blocking

Ad blocking or ad filtering is a software capability for blocking or altering online advertising in a web browser, an application or a network. This may be done using browser extensions or other methods.

"Adblock" redirects here. For the extension by Eyeo GmbH, see Adblock Plus. For the extension by Michael Gundlach, see AdBlock.

History[edit]

The first ad blocker was Internet Fast Forward, a plugin for the Netscape Navigator browser, developed by PrivNet and released in 1996.[1][2] The AdBlock extension for Firefox was developed in 2002, with Adblock Plus being released in 2006.[3] uBlock Origin, originally called "uBlock", was first released in 2014.[4]

Prevalence[edit]

Use of mobile and desktop ad blocking software designed to remove traditional advertising grew by 41% worldwide and by 48% in the U.S. between Q2 2014 and Q2 2015.[5] As of Q2 2015, 45 million Americans were using ad blockers.[5] In a survey research study released Q2 2016, Met Facts reported 72 million Americans, 12.8 million adults in the UK, and 13.2 million adults in France were using ad blockers on their PCs, smartphones, or tablet computers. In March 2016, the Internet Advertising Bureau reported that UK ad blocking was already at 22% among people over 18 years old.[6][7]


As of 2021, 27% of US Internet users used ad blocking software, a trend that has been increasing since 2014.[8]


Among technical audiences the rate of blocking reached 58% as of 2021.[9]

AdBlock

Adblock Plus

AdGuard

uBlock Origin

The following software is known for ad blocking:


Multiple browsers including Opera and Brave come with built in ad blocking.

Economic consequences for online business[edit]

Some content providers have argued that widespread ad blocking results in decreased revenue to a website sustained by advertisements[76][77] and e-commerce-based businesses, where this blocking can be detected.

Free and open source: Several tools work under a model, powered by community contributions and donations, e.g. uBlock Origin.[78]

FOSS

Whitelisting: Some companies maintain a whitelist of websites that allow "acceptable ads" in exchange for a share of ad revenue.

[79]

Subscription/Upfront: Some companies offer a subscription or upfront payment model for adblocking tools, e.g. Wipr.

[80]

Freemium: Some companies offer some level of service for free while charging for additional features, e.g. .[81]

AdGuard

Tools that help block ads have to work on different business models to stay in operation:

Response from publishers[edit]

Countermeasures[edit]

Some websites have taken countermeasures against ad blocking software, such as attempting to detect the presence of ad blockers and informing users of their views, or outright preventing users from accessing the content unless they disable the ad blocking software, whitelist the website, or buy an "ad-removal pass". There have been several arguments supporting[82] and opposing[83] the assertion that blocking ads is wrong.[84] Indeed, there is evidence to show that these countermeasures may hurt a website's SEO performance, as users unwilling to turn off their AdBlock, may instead go to a competitor's website listed in the search results.[85] Due to the little amount of time the user spends on the website, and the greater time spent on a competitor's, search engines may view the webpage less favourably and reduce its search ranking.[86] The back-and-forth elevation of technologies used for ad-blocking and countering ad-blocking have been equated to an "ad blocking war" or "arms race" between all parties.[87][88]


It has been suggested that in the European Union, the practice of websites scanning for ad blocking software may run afoul of the E-Privacy Directive.[89] This claim was further validated by IAB Europe's guidelines released in June 2016 stating that there indeed may be a legal issue in ad blocker detection.[90] While some anti-blocking stakeholders have tried to refute this[91][92] it seems safe to assume that Publishers should follow the guidelines provided by the main Publisher lobby IAB. The joint effort announced by IAB Sweden prior to IAB Europe's guideline on the matter never materialized, and would have most likely been found against European anti-competition laws if it did.


In August 2017, a vendor, Admiral, of such counter-measures issued a demand under section 1201 of the U.S. Digital Millennium Copyright Act, to demand the removal of a domain name associated with their service from an ad-blocking filter list. The vendor argued that the domain constituted a component of a technological protection measure designed to protect a copyrighted work, and thus made it a violation of anti-circumvention law to frustrate access to it.[93][94]


In September 2023, after a period of testing that began in May 2023, the American video hosting site YouTube began launching countermeasures at viewers with adblocker software running when viewing videos. A popup message appears warning the user is breaking the terms of service and may experience blocked viewing after three videos unless they whitelist the site, or purchase YouTube Premium. This sparked extreme controversy and backlash across the YouTube communities.[95][96][97] In October 2023, Irish privacy advocate Alexander Hanff filed a criminal complaint against YouTube due to its ad blocking detection script, which is believed to violate European Union privacy laws.[98]

Alternatives[edit]

As of 2015, advertisers and marketers look to involve their brands directly into the entertainment with native advertising and product placement (also known as brand integration or embedded marketing).[99] An example of product placement would be for a soft drink manufacturer to pay a reality TV show producer to have the show's cast and host appear onscreen holding cans of the soft drink. Another common product placement is for an automotive manufacturer to give free cars to the producers of a TV show, in return for the show's producer depicting characters using these vehicles during the show.


Some digital publications turned to their customers for help as a form of tip jar. For example, The Guardian is asking its readers for donations to help offset falling advertising revenue. According to the newspaper's editor-in-chief, Katharine Viner, the newspaper gets about the same amount of money from membership and donations as it does from advertising.[100] The newspaper considered preventing readers from accessing its content if usage of ad-blocking software becomes widespread,[101] but so far it keeps the content accessible for readers who employ ad-blockers.


A new service called Scroll, launched in January 2020, worked with several leading website publishers to create a subscription model for ad-free browsing across all supported websites. Users would pay Scroll directly, and portions of the subscription fees are doled out to the websites based on proportional view count.[102]