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Google paid AdBlock Plus to get its ads whitelisted

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Re: Google paid AdBlock Plus to get its ads whitelisted

#21

Post by Narretz »

leeoniya wrote: post #14

time to dig around in the Adblock Plus source and see what's behind that "Allow some non-intrusive advertising" checkbox.

There's no need to dig around in the source. AdBlock Plus is setting certain ad providers on its whitelist. In theory, the decision of who is whitelisted should be made by the community. But as a German blogger recently found out, Adblock plus owners and investors have connections to some AdProviders, and those are favored, while others are still blocked. The article in question: http://www.mobilegeeks.de/adblock-plus-undercover-einblicke-...

Re: Google paid AdBlock Plus to get its ads whitelisted

#22

Post by [deleted] »

jpdoctor wrote: post #6

Quick ref to get rid of Google Ads (and some others too) on Adblock Plus: FOR CHROME: Go to "Settings" Find Extensions in the list on the left Find AdBlock, select "Options" Click the tab "Filter Lists" Uncheck: "Allow some non-intrusive advertising" FOR FIREFOX: Go to the Firefox menu in the upper left corner Select "Add-ons" Select "Extensions" Find Adblock Plus, select Options. Find the "Filter Preferences" Button…

[deleted]

Re: Google paid AdBlock Plus to get its ads whitelisted

#23

Post by Kylekramer »

tr4656 wrote: post #10
webwanderings wrote: post #8

Just uncheck the Allow non-intrusive option and this becomes a non-issue. With recent onslaught of attack on Ghostery and Ad-block, I wonder if these two tools are doing exactly what they're supposed to do: help people.

What were the attacks on Ghostery? I seem to have missed them.

I imagine it has something to do with the fact Ghostery is owned by an advertising company. Not sure if that is this particular "attack", but a lot of people use it without understanding why it is made and it periodically gets widely reported to some backlash.

Re: Google paid AdBlock Plus to get its ads whitelisted

#24

Post by kevingadd »

diggan wrote: post #11
kevingadd wrote: post #7

As long as they're only whitelisting text ads, I don't think I mind. Even image ads that aren't animated are okay with me if they aren't offensive. The only reason I have AdBlock plus installed in the first place is the really vile shit - noisy SWFs, scantily clad women, drive-by PDF 0 day exploits, etc...

Well, what others find offensive, you find funny and what you find offensive, other people don't even notice. It's a pretty subjective thing no?

I'm pretty sure it would require an extreme amount of subjectivity to find random noise blaring out of your speakers or drive-by trojan installs acceptable. But sure.

Re: Google paid AdBlock Plus to get its ads whitelisted

#26

Post by Karunamon »

znowi wrote: post #13

I think it was immoral and dishonest to sneak in a whitelist feature into AdBlock, which is in direct opposition to the core product value. Imagine a firewall that whitelists certain networks. And background updates add more networks that bought their way into your machine. Not a product I'd be willing to use.

Agreed completely.

For what it's worth, on Firefox anyways, there's a fork of Adblock Plus called Adblock Edge that has no such ethical issues, and as far as I can tell, works with all the addon plugins that worked with ABP like the element hider and popup blocker.

Re: Google paid AdBlock Plus to get its ads whitelisted

#27

Post by chc »

znowi wrote: post #13

I think it was immoral and dishonest to sneak in a whitelist feature into AdBlock, which is in direct opposition to the core product value. Imagine a firewall that whitelists certain networks. And background updates add more networks that bought their way into your machine. Not a product I'd be willing to use.

It's not immoral and dishonest to have a different idea of the core product value than you do. Personally, I run AdBlock not because I break out in hives in the presence of advertising, but because a lot of advertising on the web is just awful, makes sites harder to use and wears down my battery. Whitelisting advertising that is actually consumer-friendly is not at all against the core value I derive from the product. (Though I don't think my AdBlock extension does this, honestly, but I wouldn't mind if it did.)

Re: Google paid AdBlock Plus to get its ads whitelisted

#28

Post by tenpoundhammer »

This whitelist was highly publicized, I even listened to a segment on NPR that interviewed an Ad Block Plus employee about it(Link below). For all you outraged individuals this was a very openly communicated addition and comes by default, but it can be easily turned off. Oh the outrage...

http://www.onthemedia.org/2013/may/10/adblock-plus-internets...

Re: Google paid AdBlock Plus to get its ads whitelisted

#29

Post by kcbanner »

znowi wrote: post #13

I think it was immoral and dishonest to sneak in a whitelist feature into AdBlock, which is in direct opposition to the core product value. Imagine a firewall that whitelists certain networks. And background updates add more networks that bought their way into your machine. Not a product I'd be willing to use.

This is AdBlock Plus, not AdBlock. They are not the same.

Re: Google paid AdBlock Plus to get its ads whitelisted

#30

Post by pessimizer »

tr4656 wrote: post #10
webwanderings wrote: post #8

Just uncheck the Allow non-intrusive option and this becomes a non-issue. With recent onslaught of attack on Ghostery and Ad-block, I wonder if these two tools are doing exactly what they're supposed to do: help people.

What were the attacks on Ghostery? I seem to have missed them.

That they were/are being paid for sending analytics to ad companies. I actually don't mind, but it should be in red blinking 20 point script on the page where you download it.

I can't find the news.ycombinator threads, though.

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