Thread: Ad Blocking Plugins

I think the effect will be mainly to the websites that rely on CPM based ads.

Websites with CPC ads will be less affected because tech-savvy user who install this adblocker normally, don't click or clicks very little ads while surfing the net.

If there was a script which would be 100% sure to detect those who use adblock I would put it on all my sites, so that those users would be redirected to a blank page or something to that effect.
I mean, I surf certainly more than all of them, and I've never used adblock, so who do they think they are to use that? I really wish there was a way to show them what I think of them and how I feel about them accessing my web properties without any ads.

Originally Posted by James Colin

If there was a script which would be 100% sure to detect those who use adblock I would put it on all my sites, so that those users would be redirected to a blank page or something to that effect.
I mean, I surf certainly more than all of them, and I've never used adblock, so who do they think they are to use that? I really wish there was a way to show them what I think of them and how I feel about them accessing my web properties without any ads.

I will install it too if such script available.

Younger people who grew up with computers and internet are "raised" with the idea that everything on the net is, or should be free. Why pay for stuff like ceedees if you can download them, why pay for books, or why pay for internet sites for that matter. In the futures ad revenue will be even less, and I think the only way to make money online is to sell stuff (non digital), or to make information only available if people pay and subscribe to sites like newspapers etc.
The other alternative is to sell ad space directly and make it not "blockable" by plugins. Like image banners etc.

Originally Posted by James Colin

If there was a script which would be 100% sure to detect those who use adblock I would put it on all my sites, so that those users would be redirected to a blank page or something to that effect.
I mean, I surf certainly more than all of them, and I've never used adblock, so who do they think they are to use that? I really wish there was a way to show them what I think of them and how I feel about them accessing my web properties without any ads.

I think the article touched on a case where a website (Ars Technica) actually did something like that and there was severe backlash from the readers.

What I think is the saddest part of it all is that the developer of the AdBlock plugin actually makes a full time income from donations to the plugin. If ad blockers are willing to pay to avoid ads, why on earth are they paying the plugin developer and not the sites serving the ads?

I must say, I knew people used them but didn't think it would be nearly 50%. I would also like to see the demographics of the people who buy the ad blockers -- for example are they primarily techies, etc.?

I haven't really noticed a huge difference in my CTR over the past few years, but I also think people are more aware of ads than ever so most people have ad blindness. So you combine ad blockers with ad blindness and that equates to lower clicks overall.

My 2 cents why people use ad blocking tools in the first place:

1. Low quality websites, that plague the internet since the beginning. I bet you know these sites, plastered in ads.

2. Some people don't like to get tracked. Some tracker blockers (like ghostery) block every tracker possible, so targeted ads won't work. They also block ads, so that the package is complete. Facebook is the main culprit (I think you remember all the articles about how Facebook spies on you).

3. Many people simply don't know that ads are very important for the website owner.

I have ad blocker - though it's disabled everywhere except on my own site. I use it so that I don't click my own ads accidentally. Of course, I disable it periodically just to see what kind of ads display and make sure it's all working right.

I support all of the sites I go to, I WANT them to earn money to stay online - so I don't block their ads.

I came up with a nifty 'solution' today. I wrapped my ads in an HTML div with a class of 'ad', and I used CSS to set a background image, which is an image I created with the message 'www.CodeConquest.com requests that you allow ads. Thanks!'

I tested it with AdBlock and it works perfectly. With ads allowed, the ad simply covers up the message. With ads blocked, the message appears in place of the ad.

So it doesn't guarantee an increase in ad earnings, but it's better than nothing. At the least it will get people to think about the implications of them blocking ads.

Here is the CSS code I used. It's important that you define the height and width, or the image won't appear. It's also important that you use a CSS background image, not an HTML <img> or text. Otherwise the ad won't cover up the message. Plus, if you use text, search engines will index it and you don't want that.

Code:

.ad {
    height: 90px;
    width: 728px;
    background-image: url('http://www.codeconquest.com/wp-content/themes/code-conquest-theme/images/allowads72890.png');
}

Here's a link to the image I used.

Neat! That certainly looks better than a blank space where the ad is located. Thanks for providing us with the CSS.