Advertisers Escalate Banner Ad War

AnonymousComrade writes: "In today's Newsbytes, there is an article about MediaBEAM GmbH, a German company that say they have developed Web server software that can detect whether a home browser is blocking banner ads or pop-ups. If the Web server detects blocking software, a message appears on the screen advising the 'free-loading' surfer that he has two choices if he wants access to the Web site's content: pay for it or be exposed to the ads. This sounds strange to me. Can they really include something in the download (Java or JS, I assume) that detects whether an ad picture has been downloaded or not? What if you have blocking S/W that not just blocks the download of the ad picture, but also modifies the HTML on-the-fly (a la the Proxomitron). Can they really distinguish this from a remote ad server that just isn't responding? And how long will it take before ad blocking S/W is updated to block this blocking-detection mechanism?"

Comments

Re:Lost cause

[aerique]

or tolerate the ads (what do they cost you anyway?!)

My sanity.

Good to see...

[The G]

...that they're fighting this battle on technical grounds. I hope we see a good clean fight, technology vs. technology, with no lawyers.

May the best code win.
--G

Re:What makes banner different from paper ads?

[rant-mode-on]

I'm okay with the ads on Zdnet and C|net

So am I. But am I the only one that clicks on M$ adverts in the hope that they have to pay more if a user clicks on the ad?

Re:That only works for some sites

[mav[LAG]]

I really doubt /., for instance, could make a living of selling nifty t-shirts.

You mean they have other sources of income??

Let's see them block this...

[Anonymous Coward]

127.0.0.1 ad-adex3.flycast.com
127.0.0.1 ad-flow.com
127.0.0.1 ad.doubleclick.net
127.0.0.1 ad2.peel.com
127.0.0.1 ad.iwin.com
127.0.0.1 adbureau.net
127.0.0.1 admonitor.net
127.0.0.1 adcontroller.unicast.com
127.0.0.1 ads.1bn.org
127.0.0.1 ads.gamespy.com
127.0.0.1 ads20.focalink.com
127.0.0.1 ads.x10.com
127.0.0.1 clubchance.com
127.0.0.1 fastclick.net
127.0.0.1 focalink.com
127.0.0.1 friendfinder.com
127.0.0.1 hits2you.hypermart.net
127.0.0.1 ln.doublclick.net
127.0.0.1 m.doubleclick.net
127.0.0.1 media.fastclick.net
127.0.0.1 msn.com
127.0.0.1 msnbc.com
127.0.0.1 popups.infostart.com
127.0.0.1 servedby.advertising.com
127.0.0.1 x10.com

Re:this bites..

[tshak]

Stuff like this gotta break some rule of "personal preferences"

Ya. I went into the CD store and told the cashier that it was my "personal preference" not to pay for the content on the CD. She said that it'd be illigal if I left the store without paying for them. It's like our rights are being stripped away from us online AND offline.