Once upon a time, in a galaxy far, far away there was an app which blocked unwanted and possibly dangerous ads. Then, the good Jedi sold out to the dark side of the Force.
At least, that’s what the Interactive Advertising Bureau Chief Randall Rothenberg is saying about the folks at Adblock Plus…in fact, he’s saying they’re not much more than an old fashioned extortion racket…selling their “white listing” for a price (here) and here.
At the heart of all this is the “Acceptable Ads Platform” where users can whitelist or blacklist ads per their preferences, and the fact that the number two app in the Mac Store (“Crystal”) is apparently going with that model as well…and frankly, folks are calling it a money grab from advertisers. There’s good reason for that. Check this out here.
So, to me it seems that while abuses can happen, the claim od extortion has to be examined.
What are the “Acceptable Advertising” criteria foe ads?
This is our manifesto:
- Acceptable Ads are not annoying.
- Acceptable Ads do not disrupt or distort the page content we're trying to read.
- Acceptable Ads are transparent with us about being an ad.
- Acceptable Ads are effective without shouting at us.
- Acceptable Ads are appropriate to the site that we are on.
What’s wrong with that? Let’s start with one truth: Money runs things. Like the Internet. It ain’t free. Where does that money come from? Advertising. Duh. So, if a company provides a service – such as uncluttering the advertising glut, what’s so bad about charging the advertisers and the public subscribing to that service for doing it? Expecting the service for free is naïve. However, “Just pay us and you’re on.” is unsatisfactory, as well, since all that becomes is an electronic toll booth.
The Advertising industry should take some blame in having created the “Clearly” and “Adblock Plus” services. Had they been doing quality work, there would be no need for them.
The ultimate irony? The Conference which created this storm by “uninviting” or “refunding” Adblock Plus’s registration fee won’t see full attendance due to blizzard conditions. Fitting, when one thinks about the blizzard of advertising they helped create by their “maximizing profits” by the number of ads on the net.
Someone has to put the brakes on, no?
Sources:
http://www.engadget.com/2016/02/12/rip-adblock-plus/
http://www.adweek.com/news/technology/iab-chief-blasts-adblock-plus-immoral-mendacious-coven-techie-wannabes-169194
and others linked above.