Ad-Blocker starts selling Ads in new “Racket”

The company behind one of the world’s most popular ad-blocking systems which has been accused of disrupting online publishers’ ability to generate revenue from their websites has launched its own advertising sales platform.

Adblocks Plus, whose ad-blocking technology is used on more than 100 million devices, have rolled out a beta version of their Acceptable Ads Platform ahead of a full released expected later in  the year.

The Acceptable Ads Platform enables publishers to display “whitelisted” adverts which are deemed non-obtrusive by the ad-blocker’s community of users. The publisher retains 80 per cent of revenues and is able to continue displaying their standard advertising to users who do not use ad-blocking technology.

Till Fiada, co-founder of Ad-Block Plus, told journalists: “There are two ecosystems of online consumers out there right now: the one composed of people who block intrusive ads and the other where people do not.

“The Acceptable Ads Platform lets publishers reach the former group without changing anything about how they’re reaching the latter.

“We’ve been waiting years for the ad-tech industry to do something consumer-friendly like this, so finally we got tired of waiting and decided to just do it ourselves.”

The move into advertising sales has been described by the Internet Advertising Bureau, who claim that more than 20 percent of adults in the UK are now using ad-blocking technology,   as “cynical” and a “racket”.

Guy Phillipson, head of the IAB, said: “Adblock Plus, who spent years as the consumer champion squashing adverts – now sell ads.

“We see the cynical move from Adblock Plus as a new string in their racket. Now they’re saying to publishers ‘we took away some of your customers who didn’t want ads, and now we are selling them back to you on commission’.

“The fact is, in the UK ad blocking has stalled. It’s been stuck at 21 per cent throughout 2016 because the premium publishers who own great content, and provide a good ad experience, hold all the cards.”

Facebook recently upped the ante against ad-blocking technology by actively blocking the ad-blockers.