A show of hands. How many of you use a adblocker when you go online? I bet most of you just raised your hand. Adblockers like AdBlock Plus and adblock have seen a massive amount of downloads. In fact, over 300 million downloads of adblock software have been made on Chrome and Firefox. And in the United States, around 30% of all internet users use an ad block extension. And for the Millennials, that number grows to almost 50%! If you are tech savvy person, you are most likely using a adblock extension, and I use one too. Yeah, I had to come clean.
And there is a very good reason many people are using ad blocking extensions. People are growing tired of the pop-up windows, loud video ads, animated ad content, and other ads that are growing more annoying and stupid. Just using an ad block extension cleans up my Facebook front page, and makes sure I don’t see an annoying video ad while on YouTube. Using an ad block extension makes my life easier! It makes my computer run better, and I don’t have to see any ads!
So, I use AdBlock on my Chrome browser. I love it so much I even donated some money to the founder and person who is making sure AdBlock is working, thank you Michael Gundlach for your commitment to AdBlock! But, while more and more people are discovering the benefits of using an ad block extension while online, companies are starting to notice. They notice the declining ad revenue, and they are beginning to take action against the ones who makes and maintains the ad blocking software.
Now, Microsoft, Google, and French publishers are suing the creator of AdBlock Plus. They claim the ad blocking extension is working so well, these folks are losing out on ad revenue online. AdBlock Plus has 144 million users! And while the publishers say they have lost up to 40% of their revenue because of the ad blocking extensions, the real reason is because they want everyone on the internet to suffer, and see those annoying pop up ads. Sorry, ranting won’t change my mind!
Companies and websites are trying to stop the influx of people from using ad blocking software. Some sites ask those with ad blocking extensions to kindy disable the software for that one site. Other sites won’t even allow those with ad blocking extensions to access the website. And other sites like Hulu have gotten smart, and won’t even allow you to see the video unless you turn the ad blocking extension off. But, even if more and more websites stop the influx of people using ad blockers, people are going to find more clever ways to stop those annoying ads!
The internet is an escape from the ads you see everywhere else, from TV, billboards, newspapers, magazines, and even from the smartphone. People are growing tired of seeing more and more ads popping up not only online, but everywhere else as well. Hey websites, want more readers and those to turn off their adblockers, stop putting in so much ads! Sadly, I think you will soon see a lawsuit here in the United States against the ones who makes and maintains the ad blocking extensions. But that won’t even stop people from using ad blocking extensions.
Long live the ad blockers! Install AdBlock for free at https://getadblock.com/
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Categories: Geeks and Nerds Stuff
Greasemonkey is nice too for blocking savvy sites that try to force you to disable it or give a plead in place of it. Or noscript, javaswitch,etc. Firefox is rich in those addons which makes iit the best browser. Lawsuits is just fodder for a writer to earn a living off of. You don’t uninvent something. People have always hated ads on any given medium its just the internet is one you can control if you wish. The only friend advertisers have here is apathy which luckily for them is at an all time high but it is most certainly not the time for them to be thinking of exciting ways to mask the close and cancels by making them bounce and move while opening 3 new tabs. You poke lazy bear enough he wakes up and craps you out. I don’t think the greed for clicks will allow them to all work together not pressing peoples buttons and eventually there won’t be ads to block because advertisers will be little more than hobos with glossy flashy cardboard signs that give you a unique sense of pride in ignoring. Not for some time though. Should never underestimate modern apathy. The only force strong enough to allow nonsense businesses to remain but the thriving part is really whats at stake. Hard to imagine Microsoft or Google getting on board and providing it default which is the shift necessary for that large group. In fact despite being well established it may as well not exist. They shouldn’t even risk people knowing they have a choice because most think they don’t and just accept it like everything else that becomes a norm thanks to the attitude until their heart bursts.
Thanks for your comment! Yeah, even if companies find ways to get around the ad blockers, people will still be smart enough to block those ads!