Page 23 - atoday sept 24
P. 23
TECHNOLOGY A23
Thursday 24 September
Ad blockers rise as ads annoy, bog down websites
RYAN NAKASHIMA In this June 16, 2013 file photo, Internet users browse at underground station in Hong Kong. Perhaps there’s another
AP Business Writer Associated Press way — a truce, of sorts.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — When Some companies are try-
you visit a website, you of- down or freeze your brows- cent in Germany. PageFair pay Hulu $12 a month to go ing to create a smoother
ten find yourself waiting er. estimates these tools will ad-free. experience to get at the
and waiting for advertise- “I think publishers got very block nearly $22 billion in Meanwhile, some compa- root cause of consumer
ments to load. Video starts out of hand in terms of ad revenue this year and nies are paying develop- frustration.
playing automatically, and what they put on,” said $41 billion next year. ers of ad blockers such as Apple’s News app, Face-
animated ads jump in front Dean Murphy, 28, a Yarm, The threats to websites are Adblock Plus for the right book’s Instant Articles and
of what you were there to England, app developer about to get bigger. The to bypass them. Compa- SnapChat’s Discover all
see. The seconds tick by. who responded by creat- ability to block ads, long nies that benefit a lot from seek to speed up online
It doesn’t have to be this ing Crystal, a $1 ad blocker available on traditional search ads, like Google journalism and cut back
way. for Apple devices. computers, arrived on Ap- and Microsoft, pay for the advertising, while sharing
There are easy ways to Craig Smith, a 47-year-old ple’s mobile devices with privilege, the Financial revenue with news outlets.
block such annoyances, website developer in Mus- a recent software update, Times reported. Microsoft The New York Times has ads
and Apple is now permit- selburgh, Scotland, said iOS 9. Apps with these ca- declined to confirm the in Apple News, but it’s look-
ting apps that block ads in Twitter started showing him pabilities — going by such report. Google didn’t re- ing for ways to make them
its Web browser for iPhones ads for adjustable waist- names as Purify Blocker and spond to requests for com- less obtrusive. For instance,
and iPads. band trousers not long Blockr — quickly became ment, although the list of the Times says it’s selling
All this might help users after he and his followers top sellers. These tools af- Web addresses that get a ads by time of day and en-
navigate, but it also threat- discussed about how ridic- fect only the Safari browser pass includes many from couraging marketers to tai-
ens the livelihood of web- ulous his grandfather’s trou- and won’t block ads inside Google. Hulu declined lor their messages accord-
sites and publishers that sers looked in a photo. apps such as Twitter, Face- comment. ingly, like making ads that
depend heavily on adver- “All of a sudden you’re book and Apple’s own All this raises questions help readers prepare for
tising revenue — compa- getting hammered with News app. about the role of ad-block- the day in the morning, but
nies like Google, Hulu and stuff you’ve got no interest Google’s Android sys- ing companies. Ad block- entertain them at night.
The New York Times. While in,” he said. “It just makes tem also allows ad block- ers streamline the user ex- The Washington Post has
the rise in ad blocking isn’t the whole browsing experi- ers in Web browsers such perience without contrib- been testing whether visi-
causing panic yet, publish- ence really unpleasant.” as Firefox, as long as they uting back to the digital tors with ad blockers in-
ers and content creators PageFair, a firm that seeks don’t affect unrelated economy, even as they stalled would respond to
are watching. to counter ad blockers, apps. seek to make money by being redirected to a page
Already, some websites says worldwide usage of Many websites already charging websites for the that asks them to pay for a
are taking steps to reduce ad blockers grew 41 per- have countermeasures for right to nullify their impact. subscription. And on Tues-
the annoyance so users cent from last year to near- ad blockers. Smaller websites can get day, the Post said all of its
won’t turn to ad blockers. ly 200 million people. That’s Hulu, for instance, simply a free pass from ad block- articles will be available
They are also subverting 6 percent of Internet users replaces commercials with ers, but only if they forego through Facebook’s new
the ones out there to make worldwide, including 16 an unskippable message revenue from video ads or service for “lightning-fast”
sure they get paid for deliv- percent in the U.S., 37 per- prompting you to turn your other display ads deemed reading, sharing and com-
ering news and entertain- cent in Greece and 25 per- ad blocker off. Or, you can intrusive. menting from Apple de-
ment. vices.
“It is possible to be too “The market wouldn’t be
alarmist about ad block- robust for ad blockers if
ers, but it’s a very real phe- some ads weren’t intrusive,
nomenon,” said Joshua creepy, hold you hostage
Benton, director of the Nie- or slow down your experi-
man Journalism Lab at Har- ence,” said Jed Hartman,
vard University. the Post’s chief revenue
It’s one thing if just 5 per- officer. “Everything should
cent of iPhone users install be on the table: fewer ads,
an ad blocker; it’s another different types of ads, no
if 80 percent do, Benton ads.”
said. If today’s ad prac- Meanwhile, the industry
tices get too annoying, he group Interactive Adver-
said, they could disappear tising Bureau is pushing for
just like pop-up windows, “viewable” ads that load
which many browsers now only when that part of the
block automatically in re- page is visible. That way,
sponse to consumers’ an- marketers don’t pay for
noyance with them. ads that aren’t seen, and
Over the years, websites sites should load faster.
have been more aggres- Randall Rothenberg, the
sive at delivering ads that group’s CEO, called ad-
break through the noise blocking practices “defi-
and target specific cus- nitely immoral and un-
tomers more precisely. But ethical,” yet he acknowl-
websites are also filling un- edged that consumers turn
sold ad space by turning to to blockers because they
ad brokers to deliver pitch- are fed up.
es that are less and less rel- “Consumers are speaking
evant. and you’ve got to listen to
Every little bit can slow them,” he said.q
