Adblock Plus is one of the most popular extensions available for Firefox and Google Chrome, with the user of base in millions. The extension allows users to block third party advertisements from any website for a smooth browsing experience.
According to a discussion taking place on Hacker News, it has been revealed that some corporate giants including Google are paying Adblock to show their ads. If you are an Adblock Plus user, you must have a pretty good idea that it has an “Acceptable Ads” filter that display non-intrusive advertising by default. The company also reveals that is paid by big corporations to display their ads even with Adblock Plus enable.
When you install Adblock Plus on your browser, the Acceptable Ads feature is enabled by default, meaning that any user who wish to opt out must disable it from the extension settings by un-checking “Allow some non-intrusive advertising” option. It also shows the list of companies that are a part of the program and include big companies including Google.
The folks from Horizontat posts an extract from the FAQs of this initiative that states,
Whitelisting is free for all small websites and blogs. However, managing this list requires significant effort on our side and this task cannot be completely taken over by volunteers as it happens with common filter lists. That’s why we are being paid by some larger properties that serve nonintrusive advertisements that want to participate in the Acceptable Ads initiative.
I have no clue how this will affect all the Adblock Plus users. The company that aims to improve the browsing experience of users by removing ads are making money from big companies to display their ads. This may sound like a good initiative for the advertising companies who can afford to get their ads included in the whitelist, but for a normal user, it is not. What do you people think about this whole issue? Share your views using the comments.
Source: Horizontat via Hacker News
Disclosure: Some of our articles include affiliate links. If you buy something through one of these links, Geeky Gadgets may earn an affiliate commission. Learn about our Disclosure Policy.
