7 ms·

How We Detect Adblock

52 points by pagefair 13y ago

The tech behind the detection.

philjackson 13y ago
Is there somewhere I can go to see an example of Pagefair in action?
- pagefair 13y ago
  You can check out this article on Destructoid to see how they used the tool (fyi- we used to be called "Block Metrics") http://www.destructoid.com/half-of-destructoid-s-readers-block-our-ads-now-what--247904.phtml http://www.destructoid.com/half-of-destructoid-s-readers-blo...
  - deleted 13y ago
    [deleted]
  - jamesbritt 13y ago
    I'm curious if Destructoid paid a licensing fee to use Hopper's art. I'm skeptical that adding another figure (sad Keanu or not) qualifies this for "fair use" in this particular case. And if they're skipping out on that payment then calling out people who block ads makes me think of a certain kettle and pot. If they are paying for that content then props to them for practicing what they preach.
eli 13y ago
Coincidentally I just open sourced some JavaScript I've been using to detect adblock: http://esd.io/blog/detecting-adblock-javascript.html http://esd.io/blog/detecting-adblock-javascript.html There's not much to it, but it's important to note that many ad filters actively try to avoids detection by whitelisting "test ads" or blocking externally loaded adblock detection code. That's why I suggesting inlining this javascript snippet but all of this, of course, is ultimately a cat and mouse game.
bliker 13y ago
I assume that you are just injecting some snippet of JS into pages. What does protects you from getting (ad-)blocked? If you get more customers somebody will create ad-blocker-blocker-blocker (we are going deeper). And ad-blockers have much better position than you have, they can execute anytime and intercept code before it is evaluated.
anon1385 13y ago
>We then carefully observe what happens when a page loads. onLoad and onError events tell us if they’re successfully retrieved or if requests have been blocked Unfortunately for them many Adblock users also use Noscript or Javascript Blocker. Circumventing Adblock this way will just drive more people to prevent untrusted websites running code on their machines. A net win for web security but probably not the intended effect.
- wingspan 13y ago
  Can anyone else confirm this? Personally, I've always used AdBlock, but never used a Javascript blocker because it is substantially more effort and I am lazy. I do use Disconnect, though, to block that certain flavor of JS.
  - r0h1n 13y ago
    I use Adblock, NoScript and Disconnect. Been using the former two in conjunction for years.
  - npsimons 13y ago
    The first two things I install on any fresh browser is NoScript and AdBlock. I then make a point of permanently blocking JS from any domain looking like it might be used only for ads. I'll selectively turn on JS for one (very constrained!) domain at a time if I need to do something (like login to purchase or comment), but if I'm just browsing and a site no-worky-without-js? Tab closed, no second thoughts. There's a certain blogging platform site (can't remember what it's called) that gets linked here a lot that doesn't work with JS off; I've never read anything posted there.
  - rschmitty 13y ago
    You want to confirm other people disable javascript? https://addons.mozilla.org/En-us/firefox/addon/noscript/ https://addons.mozilla.org/En-us/firefox/addon/noscript/
  - dkersten 13y ago
    I use adblock and Ghostery. Partly because I'm tired of ads but mostly because I'm tired of sites connecting to ten external services making pages load slower and sending my details to third parties without my consent.
toomuchtodo 13y ago
You guys should take a look at piracy and how well that worked out for content creators. They still get paid, but it'll always be whack-a-mole. I have a comfy six figure IT job, and I'd still spend a few hours for fun just to figure out how to work around your javascript. Now think about how much time someone determined will spend on it. Pivot and go do something with a higher possible success rate.
- fleitz 13y ago
  The question is not whether this will be 100% effective, the question is whether people will pay for it. I'm not arguing that content distributors are killing their own biz with these techniques, however, the companies selling the tech are doing quite fine. The more people hacking their products the better, if they have a client and the ad rate goes down, who do you think the client is going to call? And of course the client would love upgrade to the latest version that defeats that technique. Do you think McAfee is upset or happy that people continue to write viruses? They're selling arms and you're starting wars.
  - icambron 13y ago
    I'm not so sure. There are only a handful of popular ad-blockers, and on most people's browsers, they update automatically. If PageFair's techniques can be defeated, they'll be defeated systematically and simultaneously for every ad-blocking user as soon as the workaround is implemented. So it's basically binary. If PageFair just doesn't work at all (or can't be expected to for a meaningful amount of time), then it's not going to sell well. Contrast that to McAfee. They're fighting a long, generally losing arms race with virus writers, but note that in practice they still protect your computer from a lot of viruses. So users need them. If all the viruses in the wild could all be simultaneously upgraded to circumvent the scanner, it would be a different story and everyone would just think of virus scanners as a thing that doesn't work.
- debacle 13y ago
  I agree. Google's business model doesn't seem sustainable and I doubt they'll ever be profitable. \s
PhasmaFelis 13y ago
What does PageFair do, exactly? I mean, they're very proud of themselves for detecting Adblock, but it's not clear what they do with that information.
- kamjam 13y ago
  We won’t bore you with complaints here though; hopefully you’ve now got enough information to understand what’s going on in the background when you sign up to use our free adblock measurement service. From the homepage: Measure: How many of your visitors are blocking ads and how much does it cost you in advertising revenue? etc etc. They are selling a service.
  - ams6110 13y ago
    While I get the point, you can't claim revenues you never received are a "cost."
    - viraptor 13y ago
      It does cost you if the ad revenue is supposed to cover your bandwidth costs. If you're hosting something heavy and users don't offset it by clicking the ads every once in a while, it's a problem. Also there are plugins out there which will load the ad content, but never display it - that means if you pay to advertise somewhere, you just paid for nothing (service was provided, but noone saw the ad).
      - qbrass 13y ago
        Having ads that nobody likes and ads that nobody sees pays the same. The case where you need to know if ads are being blocked or not is when you're trying to determine if you should change the ads or find another way to monetize the site.
- pagefair 13y ago
  PageFair lets publishers reach out to adblock users: to explain why ad revenue is necessary to keep the site running, and ask them to support the site by whitelisting it so ads appear or by making a donation towards the running costs.
Kiro 13y ago
"Filter lists also name particular files for which requests should be blocked regardless of domain; for example any javascript file called ads.js" We have a file called that which has nothing to do with showing ads. If that's correct it will effectively break the service for anyone using AdBlock.
- PhasmaFelis 13y ago
  These days, it's a good idea to test your site with AdBlock the same way you test it with multiple browsers. When a page appears to be broken the first thing I try is temporarily disabling AdBlock; the second thing is loading it in IE. It does suck that you have to jump through these hoops because flagrantly intrusive ads have poisoned the well for innocent site-owners. I wish it were otherwise.
PhasmaFelis 13y ago
So has anybody ever tried to address the root cause of adblocker use, i.e. ads are really fucking annoying? I don't like ads in general, nobody does, but that alone wouldn't be enough to make me bother to install and maintain AdBlock. What does it is strobing "YOU MAY HAVE ALREADY WON" and animated "one weird trick" scams and softcore porn. This shit is everywhere, even on allegedly respectable news sites. If you want me to turn off AdBlock, you need to insist on reasonable, non-offensive, non-animated ads. If your ad provider doesn't do that, get a better one, or lean on yours until they do. If this industry spent one-tenth as much energy pushing ad services for better quality standards as they do wringing their hands about ad blocking, shit would happen.
- ToastyMallows 13y ago
  Webdevs reading this: it does work. I whitelist all sites that have responsible ads on their pages, reddit being a prime example. They have ads in a couple predetermined spots on their pages, and they're never intrusive. I've actually clicked on a couple (something I never do). Be responsible and open about your ad policy and I'll listen.
  - wingspan 13y ago
    This brings up another case for detecting AdBlock: if you think your users are receptive to whitelisting non-annoying ads, you could detect the plugin and let them know that you strive to incorporate ads in a non-intrusive way and kindly ask them to disable AdBlock. Edit: sounds like this is what reddit does. Props to them!
    - PhasmaFelis 13y ago
      Agreed. I was the original complainer in this thread, and I've whitelisted several sites that asked nicely and promised non-intrusive ads. I believe they all used https://www.projectwonderful.com/ https://www.projectwonderful.com/ as their ad provider, by the way. I haven't really inspected them, but if you want inoffensive ads on your page, that might be a good place to start looking.
donohoe 13y ago
Destructoid reported an ad-block rate of 30-45%. In general the wider estimate is 30% of ALL ads across the web are getting blocked. http://www.destructoid.com/half-of-destructoid-s-readers-block-our-ads-now-what--247904.phtml http://www.destructoid.com/half-of-destructoid-s-readers-blo... At Quartz we're lucky - it appears to be 13%. I've used Ad-Blocker for years in the past. Not sure why I stopped (new computer, never installed?) but its been a few years at least. However now that I work more on the ad side of things (how to make site experience better and maintain reading experience) I can see that blanket ad-blocking is harmful to sites bottom line. I'm not sure what the answer is, its still Users right to manage their browser VS site operators trying to stay in business
- eli 13y ago
  I don't have much data yet, but on our B2B news sites it appears to be in the 4% to 9% range depending on the industry. I don't think ad blocking specifically is behind the trend away from leaderboards and towards "native content" advertising, but it's only going to accelerate it.
- baddox 13y ago
  Way fewer than 30% of visitors will ever click on an ad, and way fewer than 30% of visitors that click will actually convert after clicking (for non-CPC ads). So the question should be how many of that 30% that's using Adblock would have ever clicked on an ad or converted?
wingspan 13y ago
To all the bashers: detecting AdBlock or other plugins like Disconnect is sometimes necessary for ad-free sites as well. Some sites malfunction when the user has such an extension installed, and it is a great user experience when the developer is thoughtful enough to put up a banner at the top of the page saying "This site may not work correctly if you are using AdBlock". (sorry for the "some sites"; I was browsing recently and saw such a banner, but cannot recall where). Of course the better option is to test your site under AdBlock and make sure it works regardless, but sometimes the detection is needed.
swanson 13y ago
Is it really worth potentially breaking your site for innocent, non-adblock folks in order to serve ads to a user who has explicitly and deliberately taken steps to not be served ads? Take the reddit approach: put a humanizing message kindly asking users to disable it and then don't make offensive/hostile ads. And then make some percentage of the ads a "thanks for whitelisting us, we really appreciate it" message.
- pdenya 13y ago
  What potential break are you referring to? They're not recommending disabling functionality for users with ad block on. It's nice that they're discussing these techniques, hopefully other sites will do it better. I browse with click-to-play for plugins and it's often mistaken for ad block.
alyandon 13y ago
AdblockPlus, NoScript and RequestPolicy are my tools to control the content my web browser displays. My general rule is that I'll only disable ad blocking on a few trusted sites and never on a site that uses a third-party advertising network. Most advertising networks have intrusive or annoying ads that actually block my ability to read a site by using pop-overs if my mouse cursor accidentally touches a keyword, divs that obscure content until I've paid sufficient attention to locate and click the "X", etc. If that wasn't bad enough, these third-party networks also present a security risk and have been used in the past as delivery vehicles for malware. In the end if a web site relies solely on intrusive advertising for support and they plead with me to disable adblock, I'll most likely choose to stop reading/participating on the website rather than make an exception for them.
vezzy-fnord 13y ago
I find AdBlock to be superfluous. I just block advertising websites from my hosts file. In particular, using this: http://someonewhocares.org/hosts/ http://someonewhocares.org/hosts/
slig 13y ago
I know several people (me included) that installed AdBlock because of YT annoying pre-roll ads. Google seems to be shooting themselves in the foot.
colinbartlett 13y ago
Only a matter of time until someone writes code to detect PageFair.
- generj 13y ago
  AdBlock -> detected by PageFair AdBlock -> detects PageFair and destroys it Seems easy enough.
jonathansizz 13y ago
I've long thought that a useful feature for Adblock to include would be the option to load ads into the cache, then immediately delete them. This way the websites would make their money, the costs being pushed onto the advertisers instead.
- kamjam 13y ago
  But he script supposedly detects elements in page, css etc so this would not solve the issue of views, but I have no idea what the payment model is - is it just views or clickthroughs?
nocman 13y ago
How to get me to turn off Adblock: 1) Make ads that aren't annoying 2) Make ads that are low bandwidth 3) Make ads that don't take over the whole page (hiding the real content) 4) Don't show offensive ads (pornography, crude humor, etc) 5) Only advertise stuff that is of high quality and an excellent value for the money -- no junk. Of course I realize that this will never happen, but one can dream.
shawnreilly 13y ago
My prediction; Websites/Services will eventually start providing an Advertising Policy similar to today's Privacy Policy or Terms of Use. This Advertising Policy will help the content consumer understand the Websites/Services Stance on Advertising, what types of Ad's they allow, etc. This will help consumers choose what Sites they want to allow (aka support Ad revenue), and what Sites they want to Block.
brymaster 13y ago
Twitter detects if you're using an adblocker before logging into their ad platform: https://ads.twitter.com/ https://ads.twitter.com/ "To use this site, you need to disable AdBlock or any other ads-blocking extension you are using, or customize it to show ads on this site."

52 points by pagefair 13y ago

The tech behind the detection.

philjackson 13y ago

Is there somewhere I can go to see an example of Pagefair in action?

pagefair 13y ago
You can check out this article on Destructoid to see how they used the tool (fyi- we used to be called "Block Metrics") http://www.destructoid.com/half-of-destructoid-s-readers-block-our-ads-now-what--247904.phtml http://www.destructoid.com/half-of-destructoid-s-readers-blo...
- deleted 13y ago
  [deleted]
- jamesbritt 13y ago
  I'm curious if Destructoid paid a licensing fee to use Hopper's art. I'm skeptical that adding another figure (sad Keanu or not) qualifies this for "fair use" in this particular case. And if they're skipping out on that payment then calling out people who block ads makes me think of a certain kettle and pot. If they are paying for that content then props to them for practicing what they preach.

eli 13y ago

Coincidentally I just open sourced some JavaScript I've been using to detect adblock: http://esd.io/blog/detecting-adblock-javascript.html http://esd.io/blog/detecting-adblock-javascript.html There's not much to it, but it's important to note that many ad filters actively try to avoids detection by whitelisting "test ads" or blocking externally loaded adblock detection code. That's why I suggesting inlining this javascript snippet but all of this, of course, is ultimately a cat and mouse game.

bliker 13y ago

I assume that you are just injecting some snippet of JS into pages. What does protects you from getting (ad-)blocked? If you get more customers somebody will create ad-blocker-blocker-blocker (we are going deeper). And ad-blockers have much better position than you have, they can execute anytime and intercept code before it is evaluated.

anon1385 13y ago

>We then carefully observe what happens when a page loads. onLoad and onError events tell us if they’re successfully retrieved or if requests have been blocked Unfortunately for them many Adblock users also use Noscript or Javascript Blocker. Circumventing Adblock this way will just drive more people to prevent untrusted websites running code on their machines. A net win for web security but probably not the intended effect.

wingspan 13y ago
Can anyone else confirm this? Personally, I've always used AdBlock, but never used a Javascript blocker because it is substantially more effort and I am lazy. I do use Disconnect, though, to block that certain flavor of JS.
- r0h1n 13y ago
  I use Adblock, NoScript and Disconnect. Been using the former two in conjunction for years.
- npsimons 13y ago
  The first two things I install on any fresh browser is NoScript and AdBlock. I then make a point of permanently blocking JS from any domain looking like it might be used only for ads. I'll selectively turn on JS for one (very constrained!) domain at a time if I need to do something (like login to purchase or comment), but if I'm just browsing and a site no-worky-without-js? Tab closed, no second thoughts. There's a certain blogging platform site (can't remember what it's called) that gets linked here a lot that doesn't work with JS off; I've never read anything posted there.
- rschmitty 13y ago
  You want to confirm other people disable javascript? https://addons.mozilla.org/En-us/firefox/addon/noscript/ https://addons.mozilla.org/En-us/firefox/addon/noscript/
- dkersten 13y ago
  I use adblock and Ghostery. Partly because I'm tired of ads but mostly because I'm tired of sites connecting to ten external services making pages load slower and sending my details to third parties without my consent.

toomuchtodo 13y ago

You guys should take a look at piracy and how well that worked out for content creators. They still get paid, but it'll always be whack-a-mole. I have a comfy six figure IT job, and I'd still spend a few hours for fun just to figure out how to work around your javascript. Now think about how much time someone determined will spend on it. Pivot and go do something with a higher possible success rate.

fleitz 13y ago
The question is not whether this will be 100% effective, the question is whether people will pay for it. I'm not arguing that content distributors are killing their own biz with these techniques, however, the companies selling the tech are doing quite fine. The more people hacking their products the better, if they have a client and the ad rate goes down, who do you think the client is going to call? And of course the client would love upgrade to the latest version that defeats that technique. Do you think McAfee is upset or happy that people continue to write viruses? They're selling arms and you're starting wars.
- icambron 13y ago
  I'm not so sure. There are only a handful of popular ad-blockers, and on most people's browsers, they update automatically. If PageFair's techniques can be defeated, they'll be defeated systematically and simultaneously for every ad-blocking user as soon as the workaround is implemented. So it's basically binary. If PageFair just doesn't work at all (or can't be expected to for a meaningful amount of time), then it's not going to sell well. Contrast that to McAfee. They're fighting a long, generally losing arms race with virus writers, but note that in practice they still protect your computer from a lot of viruses. So users need them. If all the viruses in the wild could all be simultaneously upgraded to circumvent the scanner, it would be a different story and everyone would just think of virus scanners as a thing that doesn't work.
debacle 13y ago
I agree. Google's business model doesn't seem sustainable and I doubt they'll ever be profitable. \s

PhasmaFelis 13y ago

What does PageFair do, exactly? I mean, they're very proud of themselves for detecting Adblock, but it's not clear what they do with that information.

kamjam 13y ago
We won’t bore you with complaints here though; hopefully you’ve now got enough information to understand what’s going on in the background when you sign up to use our free adblock measurement service. From the homepage: Measure: How many of your visitors are blocking ads and how much does it cost you in advertising revenue? etc etc. They are selling a service.
- ams6110 13y ago
  While I get the point, you can't claim revenues you never received are a "cost."
  - viraptor 13y ago
    It does cost you if the ad revenue is supposed to cover your bandwidth costs. If you're hosting something heavy and users don't offset it by clicking the ads every once in a while, it's a problem. Also there are plugins out there which will load the ad content, but never display it - that means if you pay to advertise somewhere, you just paid for nothing (service was provided, but noone saw the ad).
    - qbrass 13y ago
      Having ads that nobody likes and ads that nobody sees pays the same. The case where you need to know if ads are being blocked or not is when you're trying to determine if you should change the ads or find another way to monetize the site.
pagefair 13y ago
PageFair lets publishers reach out to adblock users: to explain why ad revenue is necessary to keep the site running, and ask them to support the site by whitelisting it so ads appear or by making a donation towards the running costs.

Kiro 13y ago

"Filter lists also name particular files for which requests should be blocked regardless of domain; for example any javascript file called ads.js" We have a file called that which has nothing to do with showing ads. If that's correct it will effectively break the service for anyone using AdBlock.

PhasmaFelis 13y ago
These days, it's a good idea to test your site with AdBlock the same way you test it with multiple browsers. When a page appears to be broken the first thing I try is temporarily disabling AdBlock; the second thing is loading it in IE. It does suck that you have to jump through these hoops because flagrantly intrusive ads have poisoned the well for innocent site-owners. I wish it were otherwise.

PhasmaFelis 13y ago

So has anybody ever tried to address the root cause of adblocker use, i.e. ads are really fucking annoying? I don't like ads in general, nobody does, but that alone wouldn't be enough to make me bother to install and maintain AdBlock. What does it is strobing "YOU MAY HAVE ALREADY WON" and animated "one weird trick" scams and softcore porn. This shit is everywhere, even on allegedly respectable news sites. If you want me to turn off AdBlock, you need to insist on reasonable, non-offensive, non-animated ads. If your ad provider doesn't do that, get a better one, or lean on yours until they do. If this industry spent one-tenth as much energy pushing ad services for better quality standards as they do wringing their hands about ad blocking, shit would happen.

ToastyMallows 13y ago
Webdevs reading this: it does work. I whitelist all sites that have responsible ads on their pages, reddit being a prime example. They have ads in a couple predetermined spots on their pages, and they're never intrusive. I've actually clicked on a couple (something I never do). Be responsible and open about your ad policy and I'll listen.
- wingspan 13y ago
  This brings up another case for detecting AdBlock: if you think your users are receptive to whitelisting non-annoying ads, you could detect the plugin and let them know that you strive to incorporate ads in a non-intrusive way and kindly ask them to disable AdBlock. Edit: sounds like this is what reddit does. Props to them!
  - PhasmaFelis 13y ago
    Agreed. I was the original complainer in this thread, and I've whitelisted several sites that asked nicely and promised non-intrusive ads. I believe they all used https://www.projectwonderful.com/ https://www.projectwonderful.com/ as their ad provider, by the way. I haven't really inspected them, but if you want inoffensive ads on your page, that might be a good place to start looking.

donohoe 13y ago

Destructoid reported an ad-block rate of 30-45%. In general the wider estimate is 30% of ALL ads across the web are getting blocked. http://www.destructoid.com/half-of-destructoid-s-readers-block-our-ads-now-what--247904.phtml http://www.destructoid.com/half-of-destructoid-s-readers-blo... At Quartz we're lucky - it appears to be 13%. I've used Ad-Blocker for years in the past. Not sure why I stopped (new computer, never installed?) but its been a few years at least. However now that I work more on the ad side of things (how to make site experience better and maintain reading experience) I can see that blanket ad-blocking is harmful to sites bottom line. I'm not sure what the answer is, its still Users right to manage their browser VS site operators trying to stay in business

eli 13y ago
I don't have much data yet, but on our B2B news sites it appears to be in the 4% to 9% range depending on the industry. I don't think ad blocking specifically is behind the trend away from leaderboards and towards "native content" advertising, but it's only going to accelerate it.
baddox 13y ago
Way fewer than 30% of visitors will ever click on an ad, and way fewer than 30% of visitors that click will actually convert after clicking (for non-CPC ads). So the question should be how many of that 30% that's using Adblock would have ever clicked on an ad or converted?

wingspan 13y ago

To all the bashers: detecting AdBlock or other plugins like Disconnect is sometimes necessary for ad-free sites as well. Some sites malfunction when the user has such an extension installed, and it is a great user experience when the developer is thoughtful enough to put up a banner at the top of the page saying "This site may not work correctly if you are using AdBlock". (sorry for the "some sites"; I was browsing recently and saw such a banner, but cannot recall where). Of course the better option is to test your site under AdBlock and make sure it works regardless, but sometimes the detection is needed.

swanson 13y ago

Is it really worth potentially breaking your site for innocent, non-adblock folks in order to serve ads to a user who has explicitly and deliberately taken steps to not be served ads? Take the reddit approach: put a humanizing message kindly asking users to disable it and then don't make offensive/hostile ads. And then make some percentage of the ads a "thanks for whitelisting us, we really appreciate it" message.

pdenya 13y ago
What potential break are you referring to? They're not recommending disabling functionality for users with ad block on. It's nice that they're discussing these techniques, hopefully other sites will do it better. I browse with click-to-play for plugins and it's often mistaken for ad block.

alyandon 13y ago

AdblockPlus, NoScript and RequestPolicy are my tools to control the content my web browser displays. My general rule is that I'll only disable ad blocking on a few trusted sites and never on a site that uses a third-party advertising network. Most advertising networks have intrusive or annoying ads that actually block my ability to read a site by using pop-overs if my mouse cursor accidentally touches a keyword, divs that obscure content until I've paid sufficient attention to locate and click the "X", etc. If that wasn't bad enough, these third-party networks also present a security risk and have been used in the past as delivery vehicles for malware. In the end if a web site relies solely on intrusive advertising for support and they plead with me to disable adblock, I'll most likely choose to stop reading/participating on the website rather than make an exception for them.

vezzy-fnord 13y ago

I find AdBlock to be superfluous. I just block advertising websites from my hosts file. In particular, using this: http://someonewhocares.org/hosts/ http://someonewhocares.org/hosts/

slig 13y ago

I know several people (me included) that installed AdBlock because of YT annoying pre-roll ads. Google seems to be shooting themselves in the foot.

colinbartlett 13y ago

Only a matter of time until someone writes code to detect PageFair.

generj 13y ago
AdBlock -> detected by PageFair AdBlock -> detects PageFair and destroys it Seems easy enough.

jonathansizz 13y ago

I've long thought that a useful feature for Adblock to include would be the option to load ads into the cache, then immediately delete them. This way the websites would make their money, the costs being pushed onto the advertisers instead.

kamjam 13y ago
But he script supposedly detects elements in page, css etc so this would not solve the issue of views, but I have no idea what the payment model is - is it just views or clickthroughs?

nocman 13y ago

How to get me to turn off Adblock: 1) Make ads that aren't annoying 2) Make ads that are low bandwidth 3) Make ads that don't take over the whole page (hiding the real content) 4) Don't show offensive ads (pornography, crude humor, etc) 5) Only advertise stuff that is of high quality and an excellent value for the money -- no junk. Of course I realize that this will never happen, but one can dream.

shawnreilly 13y ago

My prediction; Websites/Services will eventually start providing an Advertising Policy similar to today's Privacy Policy or Terms of Use. This Advertising Policy will help the content consumer understand the Websites/Services Stance on Advertising, what types of Ad's they allow, etc. This will help consumers choose what Sites they want to allow (aka support Ad revenue), and what Sites they want to Block.

brymaster 13y ago

Twitter detects if you're using an adblocker before logging into their ad platform: https://ads.twitter.com/ https://ads.twitter.com/ "To use this site, you need to disable AdBlock or any other ads-blocking extension you are using, or customize it to show ads on this site."