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There is a HUGE controversy about Adblock plus. One blogger uncovered some of their business methods. They have Mafia like structures and extort businesses. Unf

by susi22 13y ago

There is a HUGE controversy about Adblock plus. One blogger uncovered some of their business methods. They have Mafia like structures and extort businesses. Unfortunately it's only in German and I have yet to find an English site report about it. Main article (very detailed): http://www.mobilegeeks.de/adblock-plus-undercover-einblicke-in-ein-mafioeses-werbenetzwerk/ http://www.mobilegeeks.de/adblock-plus-undercover-einblicke-... They've been trying to cover up their methods and simply lied about it. Stay away from Adblock Plus. Some shorter article: http://www.heise.de/newsticker/meldung/Adblock-Plus-Weitere-Vorwuerfe-und-Widersprueche-1909535.html http://www.heise.de/newsticker/meldung/Adblock-Plus-Weitere-...

dhimes 13y ago
Is there an alternative?
- jfb 13y ago
  To Adblock? I use a system level HTTP proxy (Glimmerblocker [1] on OS X, Privoxy elsewhere [2]) because I don't want to encounter ads in e.g. my RSS reader. To an advertising-based business model? Unclear. [1] http://glimmerblocker.org http://glimmerblocker.org [2] http://www.privoxy.org http://www.privoxy.org
- frankblizzard 13y ago
  The problem / article is about ADBLOCK PLUS - not with the normal Adblock. Two different beasts.
- BIair 13y ago
  MVP hosts file blocks ads on Windows machines by editing the hosts file. No 3rd party software needed. http://winhelp2002.mvps.org/hosts.htm http://winhelp2002.mvps.org/hosts.htm
  - dhimes 13y ago
    Seems like it should work on other OSs too, actually. Thanks for the link.
- andyn 13y ago
  I use "Adblock Edge" as an alternative. It's basically a fork of adblock plus but without the "acceptable ads" feature.
  - linker3000 13y ago
    I never appreciated the difference or history of the Adblock and Adblock Plus plugins. I'm currently removing ABP from all my desktops and laptops in favour of Adblock Edge. Thanks.
phorese 13y ago
Thanks, that first link is awesome! Well, at least if you can look past the boatload of sarcasm :/
mratzloff 13y ago
Use Adblock instead. Adblock Plus is another product entirely, unrelated despite the name trading on the popularity of Adblock.
- nathan_long 13y ago
  Yes, they are separate, but the history of the names is complicated. See "why are the names so similar?" on https://getadblock.com/adblock-is-not-adblock-plus https://getadblock.com/adblock-is-not-adblock-plus
levesque 13y ago
Alright, that's enough, I don't trust these guys to tell me which ads should be blocked and which shouldn't. Uninstalled.

by susi22 13y ago

dhimes 13y ago

Is there an alternative?

jfb 13y ago
To Adblock? I use a system level HTTP proxy (Glimmerblocker [1] on OS X, Privoxy elsewhere [2]) because I don't want to encounter ads in e.g. my RSS reader. To an advertising-based business model? Unclear. [1] http://glimmerblocker.org http://glimmerblocker.org [2] http://www.privoxy.org http://www.privoxy.org
frankblizzard 13y ago
The problem / article is about ADBLOCK PLUS - not with the normal Adblock. Two different beasts.
BIair 13y ago
MVP hosts file blocks ads on Windows machines by editing the hosts file. No 3rd party software needed. http://winhelp2002.mvps.org/hosts.htm http://winhelp2002.mvps.org/hosts.htm
- dhimes 13y ago
  Seems like it should work on other OSs too, actually. Thanks for the link.
andyn 13y ago
I use "Adblock Edge" as an alternative. It's basically a fork of adblock plus but without the "acceptable ads" feature.
- linker3000 13y ago
  I never appreciated the difference or history of the Adblock and Adblock Plus plugins. I'm currently removing ABP from all my desktops and laptops in favour of Adblock Edge. Thanks.

phorese 13y ago

Thanks, that first link is awesome! Well, at least if you can look past the boatload of sarcasm :/

mratzloff 13y ago

Use Adblock instead. Adblock Plus is another product entirely, unrelated despite the name trading on the popularity of Adblock.

nathan_long 13y ago
Yes, they are separate, but the history of the names is complicated. See "why are the names so similar?" on https://getadblock.com/adblock-is-not-adblock-plus https://getadblock.com/adblock-is-not-adblock-plus

levesque 13y ago

Alright, that's enough, I don't trust these guys to tell me which ads should be blocked and which shouldn't. Uninstalled.