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Ask Slashdot: Are AdBlock's Days Numbered?

Posted by Soulskill on from the brought-to-you-by-giant-blinking-eyesores dept.

An anonymous reader writes "This article discusses the ethics and the mechanics of ad-blocking software. Toward the end, it goes into some of the tech that's been built to circumvent ad blockers. Quoting: 'PageFair offers a free JavaScript program that, when inserted into a Web page, monitors ad blocking activity. CEO Sean Blanchfield says he developed the monitoring tool after he noticed a problem on his own multiplayer gaming site. PageFair collects statistics on ad blocking activity, identifies which users are blocking ads and can display an appeal to users to add the publisher's website to their ad-blocking tool's personal whitelist. But Blanchfield acknowledges that the user appeal approach hasn't been very effective. ClarityRay takes a more active role. Like PageFair, it provides a tool that lets publishers monitor blocking activity to show them that they have a problem — and then sells them a remedy. ClarityRay offers a service that CEO Ido Yablonka says fools ad blockers into allowing ads through. "Ad blockers try to make a distinction between content elements and advertorial elements. We make that distinction impossible," he says.' Is this arms race winnable? By which side?"

8 of 731 comments (clear)

  1. Prior art by Hatta · · Score: 5, Funny

    Slashdot already makes distinction between content elements and advertorial elements impossible.

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    Give me Classic Slashdot or give me death!
    1. Re:Prior art by 93+Escort+Wagon · · Score: 3, Funny

      Since when does Slashdot include content elements?

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      #DeleteChrome
  2. Re:That's cute by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    That's why I gots this Trace Buster BUSTER. See, when the mother-fucker tries to bust your trace with a trace buster. This mother-fucker is gonna bust the mother-fucking trace buster that's bustin' your...uh...trace!

  3. Haha! Suckers-- I'm using Mosiac! by sandbagger · · Score: 5, Funny

    Text view is the only thing that renders, mind you.

    In single column. I scroll a lot.

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    ---- The above post was generated by the Turing Institute. Maybe.
  4. Re:HOSTS file by Penguinisto · · Score: 5, Funny

    Damnit - do NOT invoke that bastard!

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    Quo usque tandem abutere, Nimbus, patientia nostra?
  5. Re:NoScript by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    Where is host file guy when you need him?

  6. Re:NoScript by Kvasio · · Score: 5, Funny

    What bullshit. It's fucking 2014. If you want to roam the web in your happy Mosaic-1.0-land then go ahead.

    I use gopher, you insensitive clod!

  7. Re:NoScript by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    It's likewise trivial to avoid shitty sites that go far out of their way to degrade the user experience

    And yet here you are!