> Take the recent cases of malware-spreading adverts on legitimate sites. These sites get their ad spaces filled through agencies that then broker further deals

> Take the recent cases of malware-spreading adverts on legitimate sites. These sites get their ad spaces filled through agencies that then broker further deals, often selling ad space on-demand through live auctions to others, and so on Yeah, and I think this is the crux of the problem. Like The Cube, we (as a collective, not you and I) have built his massive incomprehensible machine with an infinite number of moving parts that no one person actually groks the function of. The pictures about a third of the way down this talk[1] are instructive. So not unlike the banks with the GFC, there isn't really some moustache-twirling evil-doer pushing one weird trick ads and malware your way who you can regex out of your life, so you just have to nuke the whole thing from orbit. Which is essentially what we're doing with ad blockers. [1] http://idlewords.com/talks/website_obesity.htm http://idlewords.com/talks/website_obesity.htm