Online ad-blocking attacked
Published: 23 Jun 2005 10:05 BST
The end of free Internet content will come when Web browsers start blocking online advertisements by default, a DoubleClick executive has warned.
Bennie Smith, the online advertising network's privacy chief, said the popularity of tools like Adblock -- an extension to the Mozilla Firefox browser -- which makes blocking online ads simple was tied to "a negative vibe against advertising in general".
However, only the online arena is able to easily produce and widely distribute such tools, he added.
He said if a similar tool could be produced for newspapers, it would not be accepted by consumers.
"You'd go to your local corner shop and buy the daily paper, and you'd have these large holes where the ads were.
"You'd somehow feel like your 25 cents had not gotten full value," he said.
Part of the Internet's value proposition lies in the provision of large amounts of free content. "But that content is not without cost. And that cost is my eyeballs seeing an ad on a page. Or within an email, or next to my search results, or however it's going to come," Smith explained.
If any browser manufacturer considered implementing an ad-blocking feature as a default option, Smith said they should consider their own position as a marketer [of their own products] and a publisher of content.
"They would be harming their own customer relationships to create a short-term, short-sighted, limited-effectiveness tool," he said. "One that they would probably end up having to withdraw from the market."
If enough people started blocking ads, Smith warned that publishers would start charging for content.
"In an offline world, what would happen in that case is that the 25c newspaper would cost $5," he said.
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Full Talkback thread
15 comments
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ONE SIDED AFFAIR
The Internet is not a medium to h... PRAVEEN DALAL -
If the advertisers did not seek to prevent us read... Anonymous
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I watch DVDs rather than TV to avoid the adve... OffBeatMammal -
As nobody is forcing me to use ad-blocking, which... Anonymous
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I have to access the internet via GPRS throug... Mark, UK
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I don't mind ads -- as long as they are not OBNOXI... Jon Cverna
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Internet ads cost the reader a lot in paying for t... M. Gorman
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Jon is right.
I personally also don't mind ads if... Jerm
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" the 25c newspaper would cost $5," - but in a 25c... Anonymous
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Internet advertisers can kiiss my ass. I pay for... Heywood Jablowme
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I agree with the article in the most part - p... Matt
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I don't mind the sidebar or banner ads l... David Wright -
Advertising is beyond the point of ridiculous thes... Chris Davis
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Ah, it's the usual cry from businesses which wish... Marcus Brodeur
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Baloney! My newspaper ads do not 1) steal CPU cycl... Steve Jones
