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Ad Blocking – a Coming Legal Battleground?

Posted by timothy on from the you-must-watch-and-hear-this-ad dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Computerworld asks: What will happen if big advertisers declare AdBlock Plus a clear and present danger to online business models? Hint: it will probably involve lawyers. From the article: 'Could browser ad blocking one day become so prevalent that it jeopardises potentially billions of dollars of online ad revenue, and the primary business models of many online and new media businesses? If so, it will inevitably face legal attack.'"

3 of 686 comments (clear)

  1. Short answer: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    No. People who block ads do not click ads anyway, and as long as adblock is opt-in, this will never, ever be a problem.

    1. Re:Short answer: by innocent_white_lamb · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Advertising is always obnoxious no matter how subtle it's done.
       
      Really?
       
      I own a small movie theatre and advertise what's playing and what's coming with a webpage and an email mailing list.
       
      People actively seek out and view the webpage hundreds of times per day, and I have a fair number of people who have signed up to receive automatic notifications of what's playing when I have a confirmed booking for a new movie.
       
      I don't think that my advertising is "obnoxious", since it's information that people are actually searching for and obviously want to receive.

      --
      If you're a zombie and you know it, bite your friend!
  2. No by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    "There has grown up in the minds of certain groups in this country the notion that because a man or corporation has made a profit out of the public for a number of years, the government and the courts are charged with the duty of guaranteeing such profit in the future, even in the face of changing circumstances and contrary to public interest. This strange doctrine is not supported by statute or common law. Neither individuals nor corporations have any right to come into court and ask that the clock of history be stopped, or turned back."

    Robert A. Heinlein