Adblock Plus: the nuclear plug-in
Adblock Plus, the Firefox browser plug-in that erases advertisements from web pages, is a killer of a killer app - or at least it would be if it became widely popular. Right now, it sits like a coyote at the edge of the net, quietly eyeing all the businesses it would happily devour.
The plug-in, writes Noam Cohen in today's New York Times, has the potential to be an "extreme menace to the online-advertising business model. After an installation that takes but a minute or two, Adblock usually makes all commercial communication disappear. No flashing whack-a-mole banners. No Google ads based on the search terms you have entered. From that perspective, the program is an unwelcome arrival after years of worry that there might never be an online advertising business model to support the expense of creating entertainment programming or journalism, or sophisticated search engines, for that matter."
Next thing we'll hear is sites either blocking Firefox, or blocking those users with the installed extension (so far, I think there's no way to query the extensions used by Firefox).People running those sites can then say bye-bye to my traffic and any activity I may or may not have had there. It's my computer, and if you have a problem with it, thats too bad. (Isn't that also an intrusion of not only your computer, but your privacy as well? :-\)-Lashiec (September 04, 2007, 11:31 AM)
By visiting their site, you agree to their advertisements. Most sites offer a subscription for ad free viewing, if you truly like the site, you will let the ads show. I do it on sites I support. If DC had a way to force ads to show for charter members, I would enable it. This is why I like ad muncher, I can support sites I like and find useful. Its only right that a site I use all the time get some sort of recoupement for my constant usage.True, and very interesting point. But I cannot afford $5 a year here, $15 a year here, $2.50 a month here, and so on. It adds up. And besides, the first time I visit a site that I might like (and want to subscribe too) its a pain in the *** to go around the 15 different flash banners making my computer look like the NASA space station just to get to a link (that often times turns out to be an ad).-Josh (September 04, 2007, 06:18 PM)
By visiting their site, you agree to their advertisements. Most sites offer a subscription for ad free viewing, if you truly like the site, you will let the ads show. I do it on sites I support. If DC had a way to force ads to show for charter members, I would enable it. This is why I like ad muncher, I can support sites I like and find useful. Its only right that a site I use all the time get some sort of recoupement for my constant usage.-Josh (September 04, 2007, 06:18 PM)
Thats just it, you are visiting something THEY own, not the other way around.-Josh (September 05, 2007, 11:12 AM)
Well, on the same note, they are well within their rights to block you from accessing the site if you choose to block the ads. Its a two way street. I am a firm believer that if you utilize something enough, and its provided for free or offers an option for some form of reimbursement, you should reimburse the author (be it donations, subscriptions, etc). If an ad makes your favorite site free, why shouldnt you support them and let it be shown?-Josh (September 05, 2007, 01:43 PM)
Well, on the same note, they are well within their rights to block you from accessing the site if you choose to block the ads. Its a two way street. I am a firm believer that if you utilize something enough, and its provided for free or offers an option for some form of reimbursement, you should reimburse the author (be it donations, subscriptions, etc). If an ad makes your favorite site free, why shouldnt you support them and let it be shown?-Josh (September 05, 2007, 01:43 PM)
Am I the only one that isn't annoyed at all by most forms of online advertising (except the most obstrusive ones, that open windows above what you are reading, obviously)?-Mark0 (September 06, 2007, 05:53 AM)
On some sites, advertisements aren't the pop-over/under kind but simply make the page layout distracting and stressful; other sites have porn ads, which I'd rather not have show up.-f0dder (September 06, 2007, 07:12 AM)
... At the moment there are no reliable way of detecting adblocking software (and really, there never will be) ...-Dirhael (September 05, 2007, 02:03 PM)
(Isn't that also an intrusion of not only your computer, but your privacy as well? undecided)
What happens when the advertisements are wiped clean from a Web site? There is a contented feeling similar to what happens when you watch a recorded half-hour network TV show on DVD in 22 minutes, or when a blizzard hits Times Square and for a few hours, the streets are quiet and unhurried, until the plows come to clear away all that white space.