5 ms·

Is there any reason why someone just doesn't make an adblocker that surreptitiously clicks the ads so everyone gets paid and gets to keep their sanity?

ionforce 11y ago
This would eventually backfire if ad networks look for click fraud.
packetslave 11y ago
because that would be fraud?
deleted 11y ago
[deleted]
dudus 11y ago
That would be fraud, you are now asking the advertiser to fund the web without any upsides.
tomtang0514 11y ago
Because that's considered ad fraud. There're websites specifically doing this such as have a silent video ad playing in a hidden div and try to get paid for it. But the ad network is not stupid enough to pay for this kind of fake "impression" where users don't even see the ad. In addition, this kind of action will lower the advertising value of the website. So in the end, even for the website itself, it's more harmful to have adblocker click on ads rather than just block it.
- Karunamon 11y ago
  Ok wait, fraud? That's a bit strong don't you think? The person running this hypothetical plugin doesn't have any agreements with people to do or not do anything with ads on a page. There is no obligation from someone viewing an ad to not click on it for any reason. That said, if you wanted to cause the ad industry to implode, you could do a lot worse than creating a plugin that does precisely this and having it reach critical mass. As a bonus, it would completely screw up the analytics attached to your tracking cookies/IP address.
  - tomtang0514 11y ago
    Well "ad fraud" is an official name for this kind of behavior. Consider in an advertiser's perspective, I pay to get someone see my ad, and I even pay more if people click on it. Now I've paid the click price but my ad is not seen by any real person. That is fraud. It might not be the user who use the adblocker committing the fraud, but that user is getting involved. And the website ( unfortunately might not have any control on this entire thing) is pulled into this chaos by the user and adblocker, and will get harmed.
soared 11y ago
A webmaster and google can track users who came to the site via ads. It would be brutally obvious if your adverting money went to users who bounced 100% of the time.

ionforce 11y ago

This would eventually backfire if ad networks look for click fraud.

packetslave 11y ago

because that would be fraud?

deleted 11y ago

[deleted]

dudus 11y ago

That would be fraud, you are now asking the advertiser to fund the web without any upsides.

tomtang0514 11y ago

Because that's considered ad fraud. There're websites specifically doing this such as have a silent video ad playing in a hidden div and try to get paid for it. But the ad network is not stupid enough to pay for this kind of fake "impression" where users don't even see the ad. In addition, this kind of action will lower the advertising value of the website. So in the end, even for the website itself, it's more harmful to have adblocker click on ads rather than just block it.

Karunamon 11y ago
Ok wait, fraud? That's a bit strong don't you think? The person running this hypothetical plugin doesn't have any agreements with people to do or not do anything with ads on a page. There is no obligation from someone viewing an ad to not click on it for any reason. That said, if you wanted to cause the ad industry to implode, you could do a lot worse than creating a plugin that does precisely this and having it reach critical mass. As a bonus, it would completely screw up the analytics attached to your tracking cookies/IP address.
- tomtang0514 11y ago
  Well "ad fraud" is an official name for this kind of behavior. Consider in an advertiser's perspective, I pay to get someone see my ad, and I even pay more if people click on it. Now I've paid the click price but my ad is not seen by any real person. That is fraud. It might not be the user who use the adblocker committing the fraud, but that user is getting involved. And the website ( unfortunately might not have any control on this entire thing) is pulled into this chaos by the user and adblocker, and will get harmed.

soared 11y ago

A webmaster and google can track users who came to the site via ads. It would be brutally obvious if your adverting money went to users who bounced 100% of the time.