5 ms·

Forbes tried something similar a while ago, by preventing ad blocker users to access their articles. How did that work for them?

chc 9y ago
That doesn't seem like as big a deal. Ad blocker users are not uncommon, but not the majority either. "Google users" is quite possibly the broadest demographic you could possibly lose.
- seanp2k2 9y ago
  It seems like "They're building an ad blocker into Chrome?! Ooh yeah????!!! We'll show them!" happened internally. Taking bets on them being out of business or sold at a greatly diminished value in 3 years or less.
  - bubblethink 9y ago
    I wouldn't be so sure. They probably rely significantly on enterprise/university/library subscribers. Journals haven't gone anywhere despite being paid forever. This will also switch to the journal bait and switch model. Show the abstract in google results, but require money to read the full article.
abuani 9y ago
That's a great question: They're still a company that I read articles from every now and then, so I personally assume they're doing well enough to still exist. How did it work out for them? Not trying to be a snarky bastard here, I genuinely want to know how it worked out for them, because I don't know this story and am too lazy to do research on it right now, and given the tone of your comment, I'd imagine it'll be easier for you to provide me some starting material to give me a head start.
- sndean 9y ago
  I'm not who you replied to, but I was genuinely curious too. This is the best evidence I can find [0][1]... It looks like it probably did negatively impact Forbes (and other websites that have blocked adblockers). But if they're sticking with that behavior, maybe it's not so bad? I also saw that their physical magazine readership is up (while other competing magazines are down or flat). [0] https://thestack.com/world/2016/04/21/sites-that-block-adblockers-seem-to-be-suffering/ https://thestack.com/world/2016/04/21/sites-that-block-adblo... [1] http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/forbes.com http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/forbes.com
bubblethink 9y ago
I guess it worked ok for them, given that they are still doing it. I can never open a Forbes link. Not in a 'disable ad blocker pop-up' sort of way, but it just redirects to the home page. Sometimes it would work after a couple of tries. The upshot is that I never open Forbes links any more.
- amyjess 9y ago
  Have you tried uBlock Protector? https://jspenguin2017.github.io/uBlockProtector/ https://jspenguin2017.github.io/uBlockProtector/
  - bubblethink 9y ago
    No, but I use the anti-adblock killer. Is this better ? While it's a good exercise academically, in the long run, I just don't visit sites that block ad-blockers.
    - amyjess 9y ago
      The userscript that accompanies it catches a bunch of things that AAK misses. Ctrl-Fing through the script, I see there's a section specifically for "forbes.com".
workerIbe 9y ago
I don't know how it worked out for them but I will usually disable my adblocker for sites I like that ask nicely and their adds are not too obnoxious.

chc 9y ago

That doesn't seem like as big a deal. Ad blocker users are not uncommon, but not the majority either. "Google users" is quite possibly the broadest demographic you could possibly lose.

seanp2k2 9y ago
It seems like "They're building an ad blocker into Chrome?! Ooh yeah????!!! We'll show them!" happened internally. Taking bets on them being out of business or sold at a greatly diminished value in 3 years or less.
- bubblethink 9y ago
  I wouldn't be so sure. They probably rely significantly on enterprise/university/library subscribers. Journals haven't gone anywhere despite being paid forever. This will also switch to the journal bait and switch model. Show the abstract in google results, but require money to read the full article.

abuani 9y ago

That's a great question: They're still a company that I read articles from every now and then, so I personally assume they're doing well enough to still exist. How did it work out for them? Not trying to be a snarky bastard here, I genuinely want to know how it worked out for them, because I don't know this story and am too lazy to do research on it right now, and given the tone of your comment, I'd imagine it'll be easier for you to provide me some starting material to give me a head start.

sndean 9y ago
I'm not who you replied to, but I was genuinely curious too. This is the best evidence I can find [0][1]... It looks like it probably did negatively impact Forbes (and other websites that have blocked adblockers). But if they're sticking with that behavior, maybe it's not so bad? I also saw that their physical magazine readership is up (while other competing magazines are down or flat). [0] https://thestack.com/world/2016/04/21/sites-that-block-adblockers-seem-to-be-suffering/ https://thestack.com/world/2016/04/21/sites-that-block-adblo... [1] http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/forbes.com http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/forbes.com

bubblethink 9y ago

I guess it worked ok for them, given that they are still doing it. I can never open a Forbes link. Not in a 'disable ad blocker pop-up' sort of way, but it just redirects to the home page. Sometimes it would work after a couple of tries. The upshot is that I never open Forbes links any more.

amyjess 9y ago
Have you tried uBlock Protector? https://jspenguin2017.github.io/uBlockProtector/ https://jspenguin2017.github.io/uBlockProtector/
- bubblethink 9y ago
  No, but I use the anti-adblock killer. Is this better ? While it's a good exercise academically, in the long run, I just don't visit sites that block ad-blockers.
  - amyjess 9y ago
    The userscript that accompanies it catches a bunch of things that AAK misses. Ctrl-Fing through the script, I see there's a section specifically for "forbes.com".

workerIbe 9y ago

I don't know how it worked out for them but I will usually disable my adblocker for sites I like that ask nicely and their adds are not too obnoxious.