French Publishers Think They Can Fix Online Advertising By Suing The Company Behind AdBlockPlus
from the 'fix'-as-in-'burn-all-bridges-in-all-directions' dept
The debate over ad blockers continues, all without gaining much ground in terms of coherence. Most people still find ads annoying, something that plays hell with websites' attempts to make money by utilizing them. Ad blockers kick these intrusive nuisances to the curb (and block questionable scripts), prompting website owners to make regrettable decisions like blocking users of ad blockers or banning any discussion of ad blocking software, etc. Responses like these seem to emanate from the brainstem rather than from careful consideration, and generally do more to alienate readers than screen-eating splash ads and flash-heavy sidebars that slow systems to a crawl.So, who's going to pay for all of this "free" content? That's the question on many site owners' minds. Subscriptions, paywalls, data mining, patronage, physical goods tie-ins… all of these are options. Not a single one of these is perfect and none of them have enough pull of their own to completely displace ad revenue.
It's an industry that's still ripe for disruption, just as much as the online publishing field is. Advancements have been made, but there's still a long road ahead before any sort of consistently profitable equilibrium is achieved. But why wait? And, by all means, why innovate? Members of the French publishing industry are now doing what so many industries have done before -- attempting to sue their way to success. (via slashdot)
On grounds that it represents a major economic threat to their business, two groups of French publishers are considering a lawsuit against AdBlockPlus creator Eyeo GmbH. (Les Echos, broke the news in this story, in French).As Frederic Filloux notes, this proposed litigation will be nothing more than two failures attempting to co-write "History: A Biography." Even if these two manage to take AdBlockPlus down, they'll just find themselves facing people who still don't want to see ads and many, many developers willing to fill the void. And once people are aware that these two plaintiffs are willing to force them to view ads, they'll be twice as happy to actively make things worse for the publishers. There will also be collateral damage: people employed by both who don't see eye-to-eye with their employers but whose employment will be adversely affected by the backlash.
Plaintiffs are said to be the GESTE and the French Internet Advertising Bureau. The first is known for its aggressive stance against Google via its contribution to the Open Internet Project. (To be clear, GESTE said they were at a “legal consulting stage”, no formal complaint has been filed yet.) By his actions, the second plaintiff, the French branch of the Internet Advertising Bureau is in fact acknowledging its failure to tame the excesses of the digital advertising market.
Not that Eyeo GmbH is completely blameless. While the product works as advertised, the philosophy of the company isn't exactly altruistic. The company has its own idea of what is or isn't an "acceptable ad," but the quantifying factors verge on ethereal.
1. Acceptable Ads are not annoying.But who decides whether an ad is "acceptable" or not (and thus qualified for a spot on the software's whitelist)? Well, the company does. And since the company is interested in moving copies of AdBlockPlus, it's hardly an unbiased view. It admits that it receives fees from some companies in return for whitelisting, which it also extends to all "small- to medium-sized websites." It promises not to sell whitelist spots, but it also withholds information about how it determines which sites are eligible for free whitelisting, or which advertisers it takes money from.
2. Acceptable Ads do not disrupt or distort the page content we’re trying to read.
3. Acceptable Ads are transparent with us about being an ad.
4. Acceptable Ads are effective without shouting at us.
5. Acceptable Ads are appropriate to the site that we are on.
Filloux points out the pitfall this situation presents.
[A] single private entity cannot decide what is acceptable or not for an entire sector. Especially in such an opaque fashion.It's an industry that's singularly an anti-industry force. AdBlockPlus's success is tied to the failures of the ad industry. It seems willing to play nice with certain advertisers, but these qualifications are withheld from both the industries it affects and the users who depend on the product.
Eyeo GmbH is filling a vacuum created by the incompetence and sloppiness of the advertising community’s, namely creative agencies, media buyers and organizations that are supposed to coordinate the whole ecosystem (such as the Internet Advertising Bureau.)
But the "solution" these publishers are proposing is no solution. What needs to be fixed will remain unaddressed as long as simply suing an undesirable entity out of circulation remains a possibility. This isn't just a French thing, either. We see it here in the US as well -- the use of government entities (legislative, judicial) instead of actual innovation when faced with declining revenue. The fact that it rarely, if ever, works is lost on the incumbents. (Remember that time when the RIAA sued LimeWire out of existence and piracy ended?) AdBlockPlus may have its issues, but forcing it out of the market won't fix the online advertising. All it will do is make it worse.
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Filed Under: adblockplus, advertising, france, lawsuits, publishers
Companies: eyeo gmbh, french internet advertising bureau, geste
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Acceptable Ads
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Re: Acceptable Ads
that is a general statement, whether it is teevee (more on that), magazines, billboards, movies, whatever; ADS SUCK, FUCK YOU ADVERTISERS...
(NO, i will NOT sit still for the LIES of 'well, ads perform a very important role in our society blah blah blah...'... BULLSHIT, they do not, shut up with that happy horseshit... we ALL -EXCEPT FOR ADVERTISERS AND USELESS MARKETING DROIDS- could have ALL ads disappear tomorrow and it would be a BETTER , PRETTIER WORLD and no one would die as a result...)
what i'm hating on now, is the trend of having a big site title banner thingy with idiotic tweet/farcebook/etc icons JAMMED into my face, especially the ones which drop down and obscure the page... USELESS SPACE WASTING...
and about teevee: hate, Hate, HATE the bugs those jerks put on OUR screens... AND i can prove with one factoid how the purported 'reason' they 'have to' put bugs on the screen is a lie, because we po' po' widdle teevee watchers won't know what channel we are on...
A. that's really a problem ? (no, it isn't)
B. IF that is the intention, then WHY aren't the bugs onscreen during THE ONE TIME THEY ARE REALLY NECESSARY: during commercials ? ? ?
i know why, you know why, but the teevee droids are STILL going to piss on our legs, and not only tell us it is raining, BUT INSIST YOUR LEG IS NOT WET AT ALL...
further, it is bad enough when they have the little ghost bugs of their channel logo/whatever in the corner; but they also have the relatively HUGE animated/video adlets which overwrite OUR SCREEN with bullshit advertising their next shitty show we don't want to watch OVER TOP THE SHOW WE ARE WATCHING...
totally blotted out some translated language subtitles for a show i was watching the other day... fuckers, couldn't follow what was going on in the show because the subtitles were obscured...
this has NOTHING to do with what we PAYING CUSTOMERS want, and EVERYTHING to do with wringing every last penny out of us they can... AND DESTROYING their OWN product in the process ! ! !
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Re: Re: Acceptable Ads
> channel logo/whatever in the corner; but they also have the relatively
> HUGE animated/video adlets which overwrite OUR SCREEN with bullshit
> advertising their next shitty show we don't want to watch OVER TOP THE SHOW WE ARE WATCHING
It was a gradual process. But I found a solution.
I simply quit watching.
If I can't find it on Netflix, then it doesn't exist.
I can find plenty to watch in the limited time that I have for watching TV. There are better things to do in life. Yes really.
Go out and buy a Raspberry Pi starter kit.
Learn to play a musical instrument.
Read a book. (horrors!)
Watch fantastic lectures on YouTube. (I'm currently watching videos from Clojure Conj, and watching a series on introduction to advanced mathematics, currently in groups, rings, etc -- which I want to absorb in order to work on polynomial factoring in software.)
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Re: Acceptable Ads
FTFY
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Re: Re: Acceptable Ads
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Re: Re: Re: Acceptable Ads
That depends upon the pixel it uses...
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Re: Re: Re: Acceptable Ads
Those are the @#$%^! trackers.
Block them all, on principle.
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Re: Acceptable Ads
I'd put it differently. An acceptable ad is one I don't notice unless I want to.
Imagine strolling leisurely down a sidewalk, enjoying the sunshine and tweets from the birdies ... Then from behind a bush jumps out a pitchman drowning out everything else backed up by a line of chorus girls and a brass band. That's when I want a mac-10.
When I click on a link, then notice Gkrellm's network traffic meter spike and both cores also spike and I'm still waiting so see the page I've asked for, and the bottom line displays my browser phoning home to "services" I've never heard of, and now my machine's on its knees and I'm still waiting for my browser to kill the tab that's sucking the life out of it, ...
I do not need animated autoplaying gifs embedded in a page that I was intending to READ! I do not want to have to scroll all the way down the page to find the autoplay ad that's destroying the responsiveness of my machine. I want a kill file so I can blackhole the assholes who did this to me so they can never do it to me again!
My computer is not a television. Making it act like a television is an assault on my senses. Do that to me, and you'll never be invited back.
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Then they started making popup ads, leading to the use of popup blockers. Then they started using Flash to make animated ads with sound, leading to the use of Flash blockers. Then they started using Javascript to hijack pages and force people to view adds, leading to the use of Javascript blockers...
Finally, it got so annoying that I installed the MVP Hosts file, which redirects all known advertising IP addresses to 0.0.0.0, rendering them unreachable. Not only do I keep this list updated, I also add every one of those annoying "You must update your copy of Flash Player now!" pages that keep popping up when I visit some shady sites.
I rarely see any ads on sites. I haven't seen an ad at the start of a YouTube video in years.
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Re:
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Re: Re:
http://winhelp2002.mvps.org/hosts.htm
Also has info on how to set it up for different operating systems.
Been using this for years, works great.
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Re: Re:
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They may be blocking ads...
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Response to: Anonymous Coward on Dec 9th, 2014 @ 6:44am
Having said that, I use a script blocker which has the effect of killing most ads. Static images still appear, but I don't mind those ao much.
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Re: Response to: Anonymous Coward on Dec 9th, 2014 @ 6:44am
Battlestar Galactica (1978)
Imperious Leader: Welcome, Baltar. I have grave news. A handful of Colonials prevail, but we will soon find them.
Baltar: What of our bargain? My colony was to be spared!
Imperious Leader: I now alter the bargain.
Baltar: How can you change one side of a bargain?
Imperious Leader: When there is no other side. You have missed the entire point of the war.
Baltar: But I have no ambitions against you!
Imperious Leader: Could you think me so foolish as to trust a man who would see his own race destroyed?
Baltar: Not destroyed, subjugated, under me.
Imperious Leader: There can be no survivors. So long as one human remains alive, the Alliance is threatened.
Baltar: Surely you don't mean me?
Imperious Leader: We thank you for your help, Baltar. Your time is at an end.
Baltar: No! You can't! You still need me AAAAAAARRRRGHHH!
[a Cylon Centurion slits Baltar's throat]
It seems to be the path we are headed down anyway, with companies giving in to ever increasing "requests" from those that demand you do things their way or be sued into submission. Either way you still end up dead, in the end.
The only real choice is how you will die, on your feet (in kangaroo court with your scruples intact), or on your knees (everyone gets the picture).
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Re: Re: Response to: Anonymous Coward on Dec 9th, 2014 @ 6:44am
:p
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Re: Response to: Anonymous Coward on Dec 9th, 2014 @ 6:44am
It's my computer, my connection, my eyes, and my brain. If you offer me something worth my time and you don't insult or assault me in any way, I may give you some limited access to the above. I may even come to support you in one way or another.
That's the deal. If that's unacceptable to you, I'll be happy to never bother you again. Understand you'll be shot on sight if you attempt to get around that blockage.
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clear that they want to sell it something
not flashing
not swf
a page could inform and apeal to whilisting
not porn ads according to local times 7 am to 11 pm
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Re:
* not flashing
* not swf
* NO AUDIO
* NO POPUPS
* not pr0n, ever
* not a page filled with ads, and a tiny bit of 'content'
If an advertiser has unobtrusive ads, providing information about goods / services offered, I wouldn't mind. But it has gone way, way beyond this.
Here's a clue: if I am looking for the thing that you offer for sale -- I WILL FIND YOU and I WILL CONTACT YOU.
The whole approach of every vendor with their hand out trying to directly get in front of my eyeballs is UNSUSTAINABLE and UNSCALEABLE from my PoV.
(some) web ads, and tv ads are bad for the same reason that Spam is bad. There a million vendors out there that want to directly contact me. That simply cannot work if I want to have a life.
It needs to work the other way. If I want what you offer for sale, I will find and contact you. Not vice versa.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUEvRyemKSg
It will give them all the information they need to understand why the course of action they are considering is futile.
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Re:
You are basically encouraging France to expand it's War On The Intarwebs into a full out War On General Porpoise Computing!
Cory Doctorow's talk is likely to give them ideas.
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Re:
When are they going to sue popcorn makers with their left hand while their right hand claims that corn farmers depend on copyright because people eat popcorn while watching?
(and don't think they aren't crazy enough to do it!)
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Still prefer AdBlock Edge myself.
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Response to: Anonymous Coward on Dec 9th, 2014 @ 6:54am
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AdBlock Edge = (AdBlock Plus - "acceptable ads")
From FF addons page - Adblock Edge is a fork of the Adblock Plus version 2.1.2 extension for blocking advertisements on the web. This fork will provide the same features as Adblock Plus 2.X and higher but without "acceptable ads" feature.
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Perhaps if your fucking ad's weren't design to look like a download link. Perhaps if your fucking ads DIDN'T AUTO PLAY WITH SOUND. Perhaps if your ad's didn't click jack ect, ect.
You burned yourselves, which is why a company came along to get rid of your shit.
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Re:
Perhaps if your ads weren't targeted based on highly abusive privacy-invading data collection.
Perhaps if your ads didn't chew up the bandwidth that I paid for and thus belongs to me.
We had a perfectly fine Internet before filth like you discovered it. Your presence is not required. Your businesses are disposable. You, and your pals the spammers, the domainers, the phishers, the scammers are all EXPENDABLE.
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Now it's a security issue.
In short, they require the execution of untrusted code from random sources.
Modern ads are just a security threat.
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I had to install it on my Work PC after trying to look up a solution to something and finding myself on a website with a banner ad, a popup ad, an in-site javascript popup ad, 3 sidebar ads and an ad between posts.
This is absolutely unacceptable behavior. This is why people turn to these ad blocking extensions.
Unless ads are complimenting to the page, such as a "Click here to Preorder Game 2014 now!" ad tucked away in an unintrusive spot on a page where I'm looking up information on that very same game, then they don't belong.
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There is such a thing
The problem is that the advertisers refuse to use them... and opt for instead to try to blast you in the damn face with popup rapid blinking and flashing epileptic seizure ads!
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Half of the budget on advertising is wasted
I guess the answer is staring them in the face.
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Re: Half of the budget on advertising is wasted
Spend the wasted half of their budget on litigation. That will fix everything and make people want to watch ads again. Only ads. All ads. All the time.
Advertisers seriously need to get legislation passed requiring everyone to have Google Glass.
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Gee, I wonder why the malware ads that steal people's credit card info would pay so much to be added to sites?
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All that stuff and more is the reason I used adblock on my computers. Ads are more often than not what holds up loading of a website, overloaded ad servers being slow to serve ads preventing the speedy loading of an otherwise fine website. Demanding flash and javascript use where the website does not. Installing tracking cookies. Serving as avenues for malware to be installed.
Sure it can be occasionally annoying to have to enable things one by one until a website that relies to heavily on outside scripts and services to work. But I'll cheerfully take that over ads popping up, playing sound, demanding I update flash, redirecting my browser and so forth.
In short, adblock plus and adblockers in general are a response to numerous bad behaviors by the advertising industry. They have only themselves to blame for us reaching a situation where we need to actively whitelist what content we allow to load in our browser, even popular websites.
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Re:
have adblock/etc on computers at work and home, surfing is great; then when i do some on either the phone or tablet (where i have not blocked stuff), it is a fucking nightmare to look at and wait to finish loading, pieces/parts of webpages flipping around, etc... yuck, i HATE *that* inertnet...
TOTALLY different and FAR crappier experience web surfing without adblock/etc...
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iCab Mobile has a built in ad blocker and recently added a tool to download easylist filters... It's a fucking godsend...
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Transparent
It is an advertisements JOB to be seen, it by definition cannot be transparent.
I have no problem with most internet ads. However the full page loads that interrupt my reading, and the "key-word bubbles" that hide text (again interrupting my reading) are both terrible advertising ploys.
Advertising methods that make my visit to any given website LESS enjoyable do not make me want to consider your product OR return to your website!
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Re: Transparent
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Re: Transparent
"transparent with us about being an ad", meaning clearly advertising. Not transparent as in see-through.
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favorite slashdot comment
They can go bite a donkey
by RoninRodent - Monday December 08, 2014 @11:34AM
"They use my bandwidth (without permission) to peddle me ads for things I don't want and they think the courts should force me to look at their ads by removing my choice? I use ABP specifically because I don't want their invasive rubbish. The courts should be forcing them to ASK me if I want them using my bandwidth if anything as they are effectively stealing it."
One reply to this correct him by saying that technically he did request the ads when he clicked the link to the page. But I do understand hi sentiment, sometimes the ad content is 90% of the bits making up the page.
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Re: favorite slashdot comment
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Re: favorite slashdot comment
That is the advertiser's bald faced lie. I click on things I want to see. Their stuff is piggybacking on that. I did not ask for that from anyone.
I understand this needs to be paid for somehow. I'll meet you half way. Show me what I asked to see, and you're welcome to ride along with that, IFF you don't insult or assault myself and my connection.
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Re:
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More ads
However, too many companies take the easy way out and think it's better to have flashing, annoying ads to "get people's attention". Well, guess what, you got it... but there's a big difference between annoying people and entertaining people.
And how many articles have there been about how ad networks are becoming a big delivery system for malware, to the point where even networks like DoubleClick get caught by it? So now, not only do ads slow down my browser by having to connect to another network and download the content, but now I run the risk of getting malware?
And don't get me started on irrelevant ads.
I view TechDirt at work, and they don't let me install ad-blocking software, so I see crap ads on the side for "This 70 year old grandma looks 40" or "See this food that beats diabetes".
What do either of these have to do with a tech site? Nothing, but the ad network shows them anyway. But if they're irrelevant and no one is going to click on them, then why show them?
Here's the message that ad companies can't seem to grasp: you brought it on yourself.
I use the free version of AdBlockPlus, but I think I'm going to buy the professional version just to support them.
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Re: More ads
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Re: More ads
Really? We don't allow such ads on the site. If you see them *please* let us know so we can find out how they got on the site and block them.
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Javascripts and ads
Once I've vetted a site, I'll usually permit scripts for core site functions while still blocking a LOT of questionable scripting sites and ads.
If I really like a site
and they have earned my trust
and they screen their ads carefully
and the ads don't screw up the site presentation
I'll permit the ads on that site.
I'm not completely anti-advertisement. However, when I shoulder surf more promiscuous web users, I'm shocked that anyone would put up with that carnival atmosphere. The ads, popups, and other cruft interfere to the point that sometimes the desired content is barely accessible or usable. And again, from a security standpoint, what is happening behind the scenes is way more nightmarish than the ads themselves.
P.S. Kudos to RekRul on MVP Hosts file for sinkholing dangerous/malicious sites all the time. Not many folks do this, but it is a useful security measure, especially for laptops or other mobile computing platforms. (A good alternative for home/personal environments is to configure the router to use a DNS provider that takes care of this for you like opendns.)
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Ads Pay The Freight. (But...)
I do block many cookies, and dump all cookies several times a day (Cookies are set to get dumped automatically every time I close my browser).
I run a cookie blocker/manager, a "Flash-cookie" blocker/manager (Better Privacy), and a webbug (1-pixel, transparent GIF) blocker (Ghostery).
I block all trackers, virtually all "analytics", and most "widgets". Advertisements themselves (more precisely, the ad networks) I leave alone, as long as they don't attract my negative attention.
Any website that I care about, or bookmark, or find myself returning to regularly, gets it's advertisements provisionally whitelisted; like I said -- Ads Pay The Freight... so if the site is worth coming back to, I'll accept almost any ads that don't actually aggravate.
In summary: I don't block ads, I block "bad behaviour. Considering that policy, it's rather surprising how few adverts I actually do end up seeing...
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autoplay is why I have an ad blocker
And it is funny that it was the autoplay ads on this site that prompted me to finally get an ad blocker.
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Re: autoplay is why I have an ad blocker
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Re: Re: autoplay is why I have an ad blocker
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Re: Re: Re: autoplay is why I have an ad blocker
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Re: autoplay is why I have an ad blocker
I only block scripts. So it would be trivial for any site to show me ads by simply not being abusive about it. Hosting their own ad scripts would also work.
The current corporate mentality when it comes to this stuff just isn't acceptable for anybody.
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Re: Re: Re: autoplay is why I have an ad blocker
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Re: Re: Re: autoplay is why I have an ad blocker
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Re: autoplay is why I have an ad blocker
We don't allow autoplay ads on the site. We had one incident about 9 months ago where there was one ad that snuck through and we blocked it fairly quickly. If you see autoplay ads on the site, let us know.
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I do. At least for myself. Other people can decide for themselves too.
[and thus qualified for a spot on the software's whitelist)? Well, the company does]
Only if the user allows it to. The "sofware's" whitelist is just that - belongs to the software developer. It doesn't belong to me, and I can negate that by choosing myself what to block and what not to block.
I don't choose to block by "acceptable advertising". I block by website - in it's entirety.
If a website warrants me turning on my adblocker it's because the ads have overtaken the content (ie: more ads than content) or nearly all of the ads "move" in some way, or the page has multiple popups and popunders (which also warrant a blocker) or too many trackers that I can't opt out of.
Just because I use adsense on my site, doesn't mean I'm going to whitelist them. Publishers abuse the numbers of ads frequently. If I have to turn on my adblocker, it's for the site, and not because of specific ads.
And no, I don't have an issue with people using adblockers when visiting my site. I don't find one or two ads annoying, but others might, and that's within their right to choose.
I'm not going to block visitors because of it (the phrase "cutting off your nose to spite your face" comes to mind here). Why exchange one ill for another?
The French can, IMO, "aller sucer un cornichon" (excusez mon français) ... highschool was a long time ago.
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In the end they were losing so many eyeballs that they pulled back in their horns but the damage was already done. Their content is not worth that sort of demands.
As has been mentioned, it is on the user as to what is acceptable. I have a very low tolerance for ads of any nature. Enough that it was a major contributor to me cutting the cord over a decade ago. Today I don't own a tv and I have no plans to ever own another. Especially given that they are now adding more spying into them in the form of microphones and cameras.
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You certainly weren't. That was what made me stop going to that site as well, and I will never bother going back. The level of disdain and contempt they showed for their readership was truly mind-boggling.
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Same here. Too bad because they do a good job.
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I don't know, like I said I haven't been there in a long while.
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There is also the issue of infected ads and ads that pass malware. This is a security issue and so far the various ad agencies responsible have not done their policing. I never see someone from an ad agency coming by to remove the malware. It's on me. If that is the case so is the cure.
Taking out adblocker does nothing for the prevention of ads. I hate an ad enough that I make sure it goes into the Host file if it makes it through everything else. The host file has been part of Windows since back in the early days of Windows. Blocking ads speeds up the surfing experience. Why should the requirement of my attention be the purpose of slowing down my surfing experience that I pay for?
I also hate datamining. Something that comes hand in hand with advertisement. To this date the advertising groups have yet to agree on some sort of standard. Even getting out of datamining is a hassle. It's set up so you are right back in after it is all over as they give you a cookie to prevent it. If you don't delete your cookies someone else will ignore the do not track. This is an evil that comes right along with advertising.
Their a victim of their own dirty works and no amount a regulation is going to make it acceptable.
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If by "hassle" you mean "impossible", then I agree. That's why I don't bother with the stupid and pointless opt-outs. Instead, I block all access to advertising companies.
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WHY BLOCK ADVERTS..
its been a long hoe on WHO did what, and Why we try to protect ourselves after. But the reason being that Sites dont scan 3rd party(adverts from services OFF' site)
Long story short..I re-installed WinXP on a system, and it had Dialup so decided to set that up. I let the system connect to the net and the first site was MSN. The system started acting funny, as the page was half loaded, and the modem was Downloading TONS more. I knew what was happening, and decided to wait and watch. After 15 minutes, it settled down. The Browser was acting funny, and things just got weird..
So I closed down and loaded Protections(using other computer)...15 Virus and 53 bots.. I reported this to MSN, as well as asked them if they Ever scanned incoming adverts for problems.. 1 year later, MSN Stopped adverts.
So. WHO is responsible for your computer Crapping out.. YOU, the Site, the Advertiser, the Product being SOLD?? Considering that IF' you could find the info on your computer and KNEW which site you got it from, you could SUE the site. With That info(of who they were dealing with for the 3rd party adverts) you could SUE the advertiser. THEN you could get the advertisers info of WHO made the advert and added the bots/virus(if they will give it to you, if they dont, sue them again). You must understand, that the maker of the Advert may not be PARt of the company, but there has to be a Identifier for the company to PAY him for his advert. So you can SUE HIM ALSO..and probably get him arrested for 5-10 year.
So, WHY do we Block all this Stuff, and have Advert companies getting upset? WELL there are a few suggestions.
What would be nice, is IF' you get data from a site, that a small notation of its location, you received it, would be very nice. makes tracking easy. And windows and Linux have this ability.
I send notes to Sites about Absorbing the Advert and making it part of their site, rather them sending from another location and posting to my machine. Make it part of the site you are ON, and SCAN the Scripts..
Another idea is for sites to ADVERT the things that wish to support, not using 3rd party adverts. This should give them more money as they are going direct and there is no Middle company trying to advert to us. yes, its more work, you may even have to MAKE the advert yourself, but its SAFE..and those that visit will PROBABLY ALLOW more of your site.
SERIAL programming of scripts. What this means is that, Scripts are made so you cant SKIP them. A site will not come up until you ALLOW the script. And when you do, MORE scripts come up to be allowed. Iv seen sites with over 20 scripts to be allowed before you could see anything. i wont goto those sites anymore.. There are lots of ways that can make it HARD to view a site until you ALLOW more scripts..
Any more creative comments are good. But HOW can we solve this problem? The sites need the revenue, the advertisers want to advert..but HOW can we get these folks to understand, NOT TO ADD BOTS AND CRAP to our machines?
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Until websites are willing to risk their bank accounts, I will continue to run Adblock and programs to protect mine.
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HTTP, a dialog.
It's perfectly within my rights to refrain from requesting things that I don't want (which ABP/NoScript/etc facilitate), no matter how strongly the server might want me to download them.
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Ads Pay The Freight. (But...)
I do block many cookies, and dump all cookies several times a day (Cookies are set to get dumped automatically every time I close my browser).
I run a cookie blocker/manager, a "Flash-cookie" blocker/manager (Better Privacy), a flash-blocker (FlashBlock -- no Auto-play for me) and a webbug (1-pixel, transparent GIF) blocker (Ghostery).
I block all trackers, virtually all "analytics", and most "widgets". Advertisements themselves (more precisely, the ad networks) I leave alone, as long as they don't attract my negative attention.
Any website that I care about, or bookmark, or find myself returning to regularly, gets it's advertisements provisionally whitelisted; like I said -- Ads Pay The Freight... so if the site is worth coming back to, I'll accept almost any ads that don't actually aggravate.
In summary: I don't block ads, I block "bad behaviour. Considering that policy, it's rather surprising how few adverts I actually do end up seeing...
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Fixed the title for you
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They have no limits, they give no shit about robbing you of your time. Both spent dealing with said ads, and on fixing your browser and pc from whatever crap they managed to get into your machine..
"Oh, so you had to hard reset your PC because flash is a literal memory leak, and because our ads abused the flash plugin more than a day's worth of youtube surfing ? Not our problem!"
"Aww, your browser slows down or takes ages to load a page because of our ads ? Not our problem!"
And ads provider and anybody monetizing using ads are to blame at least in part for whatever happens. They have a say in this, and could help making this industry a respectful one. But most chose to be accomplices, by facilitating it all. They really should be selective and smart, not careless, over-apologetic/protective and gullible..
"Oh you got scammed / had your browser hijacked / installed junk through phishing because of the ads that were displayed on my website / video / etc.. ? Not my problem! Someone's gotta make a living!"
I'm flabbergasted that the advertisement industry can't understand that when your target demographic is running for their lives, trying to escape the damage your products would cause, and trying to come with way of protecting themselves, it means there's an issue with your products, not the demographic..
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