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> Another protip: don't name your images "banner.jpg"; "ads.js" and "analytics.js" etc are also not exactly great names. This is good advice even if you are de

> Another protip: don't name your images "banner.jpg"; "ads.js" and "analytics.js" etc are also not exactly great names. This is good advice even if you are designing banner ads or intrusive analytics! I often wondered how many ads get blocked by the very simple rules usually seen at the top of adblock lists: /ads/ etc. Ads vs adblockers is an arms race, and it seems like renaming the ads files to a random per-deployment name would have been the first escalation by the "bad guys". But maybe many developers of ad software don't even bother to fight adblock, preferring to optimize for users who don't use one.

prebrov 9y ago
They do. I've recently encountered a video ad startup that runs a proxy wrapping VAST responses into a VMAP. So, a website would request an ad not from DFP, but from an inconspicuous CloudFront URL. These CF distributions are deployed for each publisher and you'd have to block them one by one, not being able to block the whole ad platform. They said that some adblockers can discover ad servers by parsing responses. If a response, say, is a VAST tag, they tag and blacklist a server. Adblockers are starting to employ heuristics to analyse what a server does, rather than relying on just URL pattern matching. Just like Virus VS. Antivirus arms race. Fascinating!
- kronos29296 9y ago
  Like all arms races, one day it will all blow up in our faces. Since it is not a literal arms races, it will metaphorically blow up in our computers. Hope somebody resolves it before it really does. (Not gonna happen though)
  - sorokod 9y ago
    Arms races are ubiquitous , from US Vs China to bats Vs the moths. How exactly do they blow up?
    - tgragnato 9y ago
      Usually for money reasons?
- edibleEnergy 9y ago
  I blogged about a fun one a while ago[1], pornhub using WebSockets to dodge adblockers. [1]: http://blog.bugreplay.com/2016/11/pornhub-bypasses-ad-blockers-with.html?m=1 http://blog.bugreplay.com/2016/11/pornhub-bypasses-ad-blocke...

prebrov 9y ago

They do. I've recently encountered a video ad startup that runs a proxy wrapping VAST responses into a VMAP. So, a website would request an ad not from DFP, but from an inconspicuous CloudFront URL. These CF distributions are deployed for each publisher and you'd have to block them one by one, not being able to block the whole ad platform. They said that some adblockers can discover ad servers by parsing responses. If a response, say, is a VAST tag, they tag and blacklist a server. Adblockers are starting to employ heuristics to analyse what a server does, rather than relying on just URL pattern matching. Just like Virus VS. Antivirus arms race. Fascinating!

kronos29296 9y ago
Like all arms races, one day it will all blow up in our faces. Since it is not a literal arms races, it will metaphorically blow up in our computers. Hope somebody resolves it before it really does. (Not gonna happen though)
- sorokod 9y ago
  Arms races are ubiquitous , from US Vs China to bats Vs the moths. How exactly do they blow up?
  - tgragnato 9y ago
    Usually for money reasons?
edibleEnergy 9y ago
I blogged about a fun one a while ago[1], pornhub using WebSockets to dodge adblockers. [1]: http://blog.bugreplay.com/2016/11/pornhub-bypasses-ad-blockers-with.html?m=1 http://blog.bugreplay.com/2016/11/pornhub-bypasses-ad-blocke...