5 ms·

Ad blockers do a lot more than just block domains. They look for and remove divs/DOM elements that contain known ad naming schemes and remove them from the pag

Ad blockers do a lot more than just block domains. They look for and remove divs/DOM elements that contain known ad naming schemes and remove them from the page. And if a site decides to start combating the ad blockers, the adblock list providers will update their rules specifically for the site in question. Adblock users get upset whenever they see ads, and report them pretty quickly. The business I work for tried blocking adblockers and after a bit of back and forth they trumped us by blocking all AJAX requests on our site. We gave in after that.

ikeboy 10y ago
Start loading essential content via AJAX?
- legohead 10y ago
  When over 30% of your userbase is adblocking, it's not worth it. Your users will complain to you, not the adblockers. They don't even understand what's going on. Asking your users to whitelist the site doesn't work, either.
  - majewsky 10y ago
    Pro-tip: Lazy-load the imprint link and support form so that these adblocking bastards cannot annoy you. /s
    - dserodio 10y ago
      I got bitten by this on https://about.gitlab.com/contact/ https://about.gitlab.com/contact/ I thought "hey, the Newsletter and Security Notices icons aren't clickable", opened a ticket, and found that the input and submit elements that should be under those icons were being blocked by disconnect.me :)
- Spooky23 10y ago
  How about eschewing shitty ad networks and actually delivering relevant ads?
  - fwn 10y ago
    We would not have this debates if this were as easy to deliver as it is demanded.
  - detaro 10y ago
    It's not like people writing ad filtering lists care if ads are relevant or not.
  - rhizome 10y ago
    eschewing shitty ad networks Who does that leave?
- khedoros1 10y ago
  It seems like a lot of the "Show HN" shares do that kind of thing...from domains that my work blocks. If it sounds really cool I'll load it up on my phone. Otherwise, that's a great way to make me decide "not worth my time" and move on to the comment thread.
Drumlin 10y ago
To me, that would be a sign that you are winning the battle. If enough websites fight ad blockers, especially big sites, and the people behind those ad blockers make clumsy mistakes, then users will reach a point where they uninstall the blocker.
- pavel_lishin 10y ago
  Or they'll stop visiting the site.
  - Drumlin 10y ago
    Does it matter if they stop visiting the site? Considering that they are using resources without giving something back in return? I guess it could be argued that they might be promoting the site to other users. Other than that, they are essentially freeloaders and if a website has too many freeloaders it has to either get rid of them or convert them to something else. Or, I guess, the website could shut down completely.
    - pc86 10y ago
      If you're going to pirate a movie, you're probably not buying that movie. This is why on the whole piracy doesn't actually affect bottom line that much. Sure some folks would have rented it from their cable provider for $6 or whatever, but on the whole if you're going through the trouble of finding a good torrent and downloading it, you're not in the market to spend money on it. Just the same, if you have an adblocker installed it's unlikely you're the type of person who is going to be clicking on ads anyway. And PPC ads are much, much more prevalent than impression-based ads. So if someone is blocking your ads, you're not losing anything. You get paid when someone clicks an ad, and if they're going to the trouble of blocking all ads, they're not clicking anything anyway. You create a system where they won't or can't visit your site, and your traffic decreases, which will have an effect on your ad rates.
      - Drumlin 10y ago
        Impression ads are important for certain industries and bigger publications. I will agree that PPC ads are common in other areas and ad blocker users wouldn't click them. For impression advertising the ad blocker will result in lost income. PPC ads are the option of last resort for an established publisher because they are almost like gambling.
nkkollaw 10y ago
Yes, that's why I also mentioned changing the HTML. For instance, change the ID of the div that contains the ad. It could even be random and change every time. I don't have experience fighting ad blockers, though (I actually enjoy my ad blocker). If Google did it, I doubt ad blockers would be able to block all ajax request on Google, or everyone would simply uninstall the extension.

ikeboy 10y ago

Start loading essential content via AJAX?

legohead 10y ago
When over 30% of your userbase is adblocking, it's not worth it. Your users will complain to you, not the adblockers. They don't even understand what's going on. Asking your users to whitelist the site doesn't work, either.
- majewsky 10y ago
  Pro-tip: Lazy-load the imprint link and support form so that these adblocking bastards cannot annoy you. /s
  - dserodio 10y ago
    I got bitten by this on https://about.gitlab.com/contact/ https://about.gitlab.com/contact/ I thought "hey, the Newsletter and Security Notices icons aren't clickable", opened a ticket, and found that the input and submit elements that should be under those icons were being blocked by disconnect.me :)
Spooky23 10y ago
How about eschewing shitty ad networks and actually delivering relevant ads?
- fwn 10y ago
  We would not have this debates if this were as easy to deliver as it is demanded.
- detaro 10y ago
  It's not like people writing ad filtering lists care if ads are relevant or not.
- rhizome 10y ago
  eschewing shitty ad networks Who does that leave?
khedoros1 10y ago
It seems like a lot of the "Show HN" shares do that kind of thing...from domains that my work blocks. If it sounds really cool I'll load it up on my phone. Otherwise, that's a great way to make me decide "not worth my time" and move on to the comment thread.

Drumlin 10y ago

To me, that would be a sign that you are winning the battle. If enough websites fight ad blockers, especially big sites, and the people behind those ad blockers make clumsy mistakes, then users will reach a point where they uninstall the blocker.

pavel_lishin 10y ago
Or they'll stop visiting the site.
- Drumlin 10y ago
  Does it matter if they stop visiting the site? Considering that they are using resources without giving something back in return? I guess it could be argued that they might be promoting the site to other users. Other than that, they are essentially freeloaders and if a website has too many freeloaders it has to either get rid of them or convert them to something else. Or, I guess, the website could shut down completely.
  - pc86 10y ago
    If you're going to pirate a movie, you're probably not buying that movie. This is why on the whole piracy doesn't actually affect bottom line that much. Sure some folks would have rented it from their cable provider for $6 or whatever, but on the whole if you're going through the trouble of finding a good torrent and downloading it, you're not in the market to spend money on it. Just the same, if you have an adblocker installed it's unlikely you're the type of person who is going to be clicking on ads anyway. And PPC ads are much, much more prevalent than impression-based ads. So if someone is blocking your ads, you're not losing anything. You get paid when someone clicks an ad, and if they're going to the trouble of blocking all ads, they're not clicking anything anyway. You create a system where they won't or can't visit your site, and your traffic decreases, which will have an effect on your ad rates.
    - Drumlin 10y ago
      Impression ads are important for certain industries and bigger publications. I will agree that PPC ads are common in other areas and ad blocker users wouldn't click them. For impression advertising the ad blocker will result in lost income. PPC ads are the option of last resort for an established publisher because they are almost like gambling.

nkkollaw 10y ago

Yes, that's why I also mentioned changing the HTML. For instance, change the ID of the div that contains the ad. It could even be random and change every time. I don't have experience fighting ad blockers, though (I actually enjoy my ad blocker). If Google did it, I doubt ad blockers would be able to block all ajax request on Google, or everyone would simply uninstall the extension.