A block for those annoying online ads
A new way to only see ads on the sites you support.
By Chris Gaylord | Staff Writer for The Christian Science Monitor/ September 21, 2009 edition
Internet advertising often falls somewhere between annoying (strobelike flashing slogans), intrusive (expanding boxes that take over the screen), and bizarre (dancing babies).
All that bandwidth-guzzling video and sound also gunks up load times, so the stuff you actually want takes longer to appear because the ads weigh it down.
There’s an easy way to get rid of this nuisance. Most Web browsers allow for downloadable extra features called ad blockers. Once installed, they tell your computer to ignore anything coming from the servers of popular advertising companies. This tight defense means fewer ads and faster loading times.
One of the best options is Adblock Plus, a free add-on for the Firefox browser. It stands out for three reasons. It’s effective, letting you decide which ads to block. It’s popular, ranking as Firefox’s No. 1 add-on with more than 780,000 new downloads each week. And it’s got a conscience.
Adblock Plus’s creator, Wladimir Palant, understands that advertising fuels the Internet. Much like network television, most of the Web is free because ads help pay for it.
In May, Mr. Palant wrote that “my goal with Adblock Plus isn’t to destroy the advertising industry…. The only problem is that ads are becoming increasingly intrusive and annoying as webmasters try to maximize their profits which is the main reason people install Adblock Plus. So the idea is to give control back to the users by allowing them to block annoying ads.”
If people can block bothersome advertising, companies will design less intrusive ways to get their message across, he argues.
But he worries that users took it too far. They crank up the filter to its highest setting and never look back.
So, Palant has tinkered with a fairer alternative. He asked users to help develop a system that tracks your Web history and, if you frequent a particular site, Adblock Plus will nudge you to do the right thing and let it display the ads. You will still be in control, he stresses. Permit ads on a website you want to support; boot them off if they become too obnoxious.
Palant’s online forum, at adblockplus.org, is still taking suggestions on how best to deal with this morally gray and increasingly common question. In an age of TiVo and Adblock Plus, should technology let you push back against overreaching ad men?
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Comments
2. Don McCallum | 09.21.09
Of course, if you happen to cherish the Bible (and possibly other religious sacred texts of which I have to admit ignorance) then you will avoid all horoscope related stuff as a sin against God. The old testament is very specific about what should be done with astrologers and spirit mediums and diviners of secrets. Nowadays though, we have to settle for merely ignoring them.
3. Siva M | 09.21.09
I use a product called “NoFlash” and turn the animated ads. These intrusive ads are so obnoxious, I don’t usually go back to those sites. But more and more sites are using them, so gotta have a way of turning off. How come Google with their plain looking (no animated ads) search results page makes billions of dollars? These companies need to take a page out of Google on how to present webpages without the eye numbing animated ads.
4. Amy | 09.22.09
Hmm…I wonder how your advertisers that are investing their money to advertise on your site feel about this article.
5. Courtenay | 09.25.09
Thank you, Monitor!! I’ve just installed Adblock Plus (which I’d never heard of before I read this blog), and it’s already made my browsing experience much neater and happier.
For those who are wondering about it, Adblock Plus gives you the option of turning it on or off for any site you visit. So for sites you do want to support, you can allow the ads to appear. (Yes, I’ve done so for the Monitor, since your ads are generally unobtrusive and refreshingly inoffensive - and I know how much you need and deserve our support.)
6. Frank Stetzer | 09.25.09
I once emailed the CSM about an annoying, animated ad on their site. They thanked me for my feedback and promptly removed the ad. Kudos to CSM.
7. hoqenishy | 09.25.09
How, exactly, is blocking ads a “morally gray area?” Are firewalls or routers morally gray? They also allow you to block servers/domains. Face it - there is nothing inherently immoral about blocking ads. Site publishers and advertisers may think it’s unfair, but that doesn’t make it immoral - just like it’s not immoral for site publishers to run advertising in the first place.
Ads are more than annoying - in fact, there have been quite a few ads that have introduced malware or trojans (”drive-by downloads”) on unsuspecting users’ computers. As a computer security professional, I always recommend to my customers that they block ads online.
I do not block all ads - in fact, I frequently seek them out on eBay, Craigslist etc. What I do block are unwanted and unsolicited advertisements. To respond to the inevitable flood of whiny marketers who demand to know how they can possibly survive without advertising, my suggestion is to funnel more money into making your product worthwhile, and then advertising it in places where people are LOOKING for the product. I do not read the news to learn about why it’s a great time to buy a Toyota, or whatever advertisers are peddling these days - I’ve been an avid user of AdBlock since 2005, and I haven’t seen a banner ad in almost five years!
8. Amy | 10.04.09
I tried Adblock on dicionary.com and it messed the page up so badly that it was unusable.
9. Nikola | 10.05.09
I haven’t used AdBlock - but I do use FlashBlock, which blocks the annoying crap, and lets through stuff that is just a static picture (or animated .gif) or text. The amount of time a page took to load after I started to use this went down dramatically!
10. Chris | 10.10.09
I’ve used AdBlock for years as well and love it - in fact, it’s startling to use a friend’s computer to go online and find ads popping up around every site. I don’t have a television or read many magazines, so the difference is highlighted. One obvious way for advertisers to get round AdBlock, of course, is to have their ads hosted on the site itself. But that requires a lot more effort and negotiation, of course …
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1. SK | 09.21.09
I use Adblock Plus, but it is lacking in some features I want. I know, and accept, that ads pay for my access to most sites, but most of them are obnoxious and intrusive. I want to be able to allow text only ads, and ads with still pictures, but I want to be able to block all animated ads, and ads that hijack the mouse and scroll bar, and move around the page with them. The ability to allow the polite ads, and block the rude ones needs to be added to Adblock Plus. I would also like to be able to block whole categories of offensive ads, namely: gambling, alcoholic beverage, dating, scam work at home offers, horoscope, etc. This blocking ability also needs to be added to Adblock Plus.
One brief note regarding horoscopes. Playing connect the dots with the stars and planets, and then ascribing “power” to influence your life to their movements is silly, but there are plenty of scam artists who are willing to help you fool yourself, while they help themselves to your money. The only celestial bodies that have any real influence on us are the Earth itself (gravity and a place to live), the moon (tides and light at night), and our own sun (weather, warmth, and daylight). The rest of what’s out there is helpful for navigating, but has no other influence us, unless we choose to live our lives according to fraudulent info provided by horoscopes.