Live data from Hacker News

Facebook will force advertising on ad-blocking users

wsj.com

11–20 of 462 posts

Re: Facebook will force advertising on ad-blocking users

#13
post #4

I am really interested in the technical details. I think we have yet to see a working (and practical) approach to this.

I can think of a few simple tricks already. One: Host from the main facebook.com domain, either inserting it in the basic html page response from the server, or from an API / content location that cannot be predicted. (ad calls should be indistinguishable from 'normal' content calls). Two, do the same with content locations, so no 'div id="ad"' or anything like that. Should be easy enough.

Re: Facebook will force advertising on ad-blocking users

#14
Honestly, I don't really mind so long as the ads are being served by FB and not third-party networks, and their performance isn't abysmal.

The major reason I block ads in the first place is for usability reasons - ad networks are slow as all hell especially on mobile. They also make certain pages completely unusable either through ad overlays, interstitials, or just constantly causing layouts to change as you're trying to use the website.

If FB can eliminate all of these pitfalls (and the current model of FB ads is certainly way less intrusive than most web ads) I'm cautiously on board.

Re: Facebook will force advertising on ad-blocking users

#15
From the article: "From a technical standpoint, Facebook is able to circumvent ad blockers relatively easily because it loads ads into its service itself. Many online publishers and media companies rely on third-party companies to help display ads on their webpages and services, which can make them more easily identifiable to blocking technologies"

Re: Facebook will force advertising on ad-blocking users

#18
>“It just seems like a poor bargain to be forced to choose all or nothing. There’s a middle ground,” Mr. Bosworth said.

There would have been a middle ground if the user was actually involved in the discussion behind that decision. If the changes are as successful as facebook hopes, the user can either view ads as much as facebook wants or not use the network at all.

Post reply on HN