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Rise of Ad-Blocking Software Threatens Online Revenue (NY Times)
NY Times ^ | MAY 30, 2016 | By MARK SCOTT

Posted on 05/30/2016 8:17:17 PM PDT by dennisw

Many of the world’s largest Internet companies, like Google and Facebook, rely heavily on advertising to finance their online empires.

But that business model is increasingly coming under threat, with one in five smartphone users, or almost 420 million people worldwide, blocking advertising when browsing the web on cellphones. That represents a 90 percent annual increase, according to a new report from PageFair, a start-up that helps to recoup some of this lost advertising revenue, and Priori Data, a company that tracks smartphone applications.

The use of ad-blocking software has divided the online world. Supporters say it allows people to get better access to content without having to suffer through abrasive ads. Opponents, particularly companies that rely on advertising, say blocking ads violates the implicit contract that people agree to when viewing online material, much of which is paid for by digital advertising.

Mobile ad blockers, though, have become particularly widespread in emerging markets, where people are more reliant on their smartphones to use the Internet.

Already, 36 percent of the smartphone users in the Asia-Pacific region have so-called ad-blocking browsers on their mobile devices, allowing them to remove online ads when they use the Internet. In India and Indonesia — two of the world’s fastest-growing Internet markets — that figure is almost two-thirds of smartphone users, according to the report.

“We found the results surprising because in the West we don’t often consider what’s going on in developing countries,” said Sean Blanchfield, chief executive of PageFair. “It’s only a matter of time until mobile ad blocking comes to the West.”

(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...


TOPICS: Computers/Internet; Miscellaneous; Music/Entertainment; Society
KEYWORDS: adblocker; addblocker; adobe; flash; scc; trash
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To: Scutter

“YOUR A WINNER!”


41 posted on 05/30/2016 10:00:54 PM PDT by Dallas59 (Only a fool stumbles on things behind him.)
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To: dennisw

I do not understand why THEY don’t get it:
WE. DO. NOT. LIKE. INTERNET. ADS.
We don’t click on ‘em.
We think they are annoying.
They do NOT want to make us buy the product or service they sell.
We don’t want to see them...AT ALL.

Have I made myself clear?


42 posted on 05/30/2016 10:02:49 PM PDT by hoagy62 ("It's not the whole world gone mad. Just the people in it.")
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To: a fool in paradise
When one uses Google search, never click on the first up. You're correct, a lot of them pay for that poll position and it's mostly garbage. Go down 20 links or a few pages for what you're looking for. Btw, I do not trust Google or Microsoft.☺ And for the record, anyone or site coming onto my monitor wanting me to change my settings to access their site, is not going to happen. I quickly exit and don't go back. Thats no bueno.
43 posted on 05/30/2016 10:04:02 PM PDT by dragnet2 (Diversion and evasion are tools of deceit)
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Whoops, I think it’s “pole position”.


44 posted on 05/30/2016 10:06:33 PM PDT by dragnet2 (Diversion and evasion are tools of deceit)
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To: dennisw

“I have to use them or Firefox gets really bogged down and memory& CPU use goes through the roof as seen on windows task manager.”

indeed. but i found ghostery and flashblock broke too many websites, so i use adblock plus and set the flash plugin to always ask to be activated. i almost never have to activate flash except occasionally to view a vid clip. Even that does break a few websites that were stupid enough to be programmed almost entirely in flash. nonetheless,setting flash for manual activation made a gigantic improvement in firefox performance.


45 posted on 05/30/2016 10:12:38 PM PDT by catnipman (Cat Nipman: Vote Republican in 2012 and only be called racist one more time!)
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To: dennisw

btw, one of the greatest inventions, and one I’ve just started to use (and now use nearly all the time) is the “enter reader view” “open book” icon next to the reload current page icon on the firefox address bar. Most, but not all, web pages will work with “reader view”, which turns the primary article on the web page into simple black and white text with embedded pics and completely eliminates ALL the other crap on the web page except the article text. In other words, “Just the text, ma’am.”


46 posted on 05/30/2016 10:18:02 PM PDT by catnipman (Cat Nipman: Vote Republican in 2012 and only be called racist one more time!)
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To: dennisw
Rise of Ad-Blocking Software Threatens Online Revenue (NY Times)

Or perhaps not.

This may come as an incredible revelation for the greedy, but the worst offenders are sites (all over the place) listing the "20 top (name a topic) that you can't believe!

I don't think anybody at any time goes beyond "2"

Are those folks brain dead? or just stoopid?

47 posted on 05/30/2016 10:20:32 PM PDT by publius911 (IMPEACH HIM NOW evil, stupid, insane ignorant or just clueless, doesn't matter!)
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To: All

Java scripts and Flash are crimes against humanity.

Post your ads inline with the text like in print, and more people will see them, and not being annoyed by them, compared to the ones who hijack your browser and waste bandwidth, more people will react positively to your marketing message.


48 posted on 05/30/2016 10:22:42 PM PDT by LegendHasIt
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To: CatOwner
Suggestions for Google search alternatives?

Ixquick was a good one, based out of New York. All IP addresses and other personal information deleted within 48 hours of a search, then later as of 2009 no recording of user IP addresses at all. But in March 2016 it got discontinued in the USA and merged into the company's sister product Startpage. So Ixquick searches are rerouted to Startpage. Startpage offers more privacy features than Google, which it uses for searches. You can still use the original Ixquick by going to ixquick.eu, more privacy than Startpage. There are many others with little or no tracking.

49 posted on 05/30/2016 10:26:51 PM PDT by roadcat
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To: dennisw

Who on earth clicks on all that click bait?! When I pull up an article to read, all I want to do is read the article, not click on anyone of a dozen ads that slow down the page loading up. I have never intentionally clicked on an advertiser’s site, and I never will. It just adds cookies to my computer and encourages advertisers.


50 posted on 05/30/2016 10:36:28 PM PDT by AlaskaErik (I served and protected my country for 31 years. Progressives spent that time trying to destroy it.)
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To: Chode

Facebook has ads? Who knew?


51 posted on 05/30/2016 11:23:24 PM PDT by Ultima
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To: dfwgator

When webpages start paying for my screen & all the bandwidth they are stealing from me I will be ready to have that discussion.


52 posted on 05/31/2016 1:00:29 AM PDT by glasseye
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To: howlinhound
"I find Breitbart unreadable because of all the ads and scripts they have running. My browser virtually drops to a stand-still. I avoid that site now."

I use Chrome and AdBlockPlus and never have a problem there.

53 posted on 05/31/2016 2:22:41 AM PDT by Mad Dawgg (If you're going to deny my 1st Amendment rights then I must proceed to the 2nd one...)
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To: howlinhound

I use ghostery on IE

no ads. Breibart runs as swiftly as a deer.


54 posted on 05/31/2016 2:34:38 AM PDT by Chickensoup (Leftist totalitarian governments are the biggest killer of citizens in the world.)
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To: dennisw

didn’t google purchase one of the adblockers to now provide targeted ads instead of no ads?


55 posted on 05/31/2016 2:35:40 AM PDT by Chickensoup (Leftist totalitarian governments are the biggest killer of citizens in the world.)
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To: dennisw

I used to read the Washington Times but I have not done so for a couple of years now. The reason is the pop up ads and all the rest of the malware on that site. Even with ad blocker there is a level of malevolent spam that makes it absolutely unusable.


56 posted on 05/31/2016 2:50:17 AM PDT by SkyPilot ("I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." John 14:6)
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To: The Antiyuppie
These people killed the golden goose. Pop-ups, talking ads, ad traps, and so on. A REASONABLE number of them are tolerable. People gotta eat

Exactly.
My 1st gen. iPad is practically unusable to surf with because of the newer animated, automatic play ads.
Chokes the iPad.
Sites that have videos in the sidebar that start automatically are hateful too.

57 posted on 05/31/2016 3:15:27 AM PDT by Vinnie
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To: publius911

This may come as an incredible revelation for the greedy, but the worst offenders are sites (all over the place) listing the “20 top (name a topic) that you can’t believe!

I don’t think anybody at any time goes beyond “2”


I feel your pain. I stopped trying to read that crap. The pages load up with so much crap it takes forever to hit the “next” button and my browser usually slows to a crawl then stops about page “3”.


58 posted on 05/31/2016 3:41:30 AM PDT by GeorgiaDawg32 (www.greenhornshooting.com - Professional handgun training.)
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To: upchuck

No Script plugin for Firefox makes managing Java scripts much better.

It’s not a perfect solution, but lets you decide what level of scripts you will allow on specific sites.

And yes, I do block ads.

Another improvement is to use https logins where possible. Makes life tougher on the script kiddies. I also default to TLS only where possible.


59 posted on 05/31/2016 4:53:19 AM PDT by Texas Fossil ((Texas is not where you were born, but a Free State of Heart, Mind & Attitude!))
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To: CurlyDave
DuckDuckGo

Yes, I have used it a long time too. I agree it makes life better.

On rare occasions for obscure searches, Google results give more hits.

60 posted on 05/31/2016 5:00:05 AM PDT by Texas Fossil ((Texas is not where you were born, but a Free State of Heart, Mind & Attitude!))
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