DoubleClick Warns Against Ad-Blocking Browsers

An anonymous reader writes "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'."

'Negative vibe' goes way back

[Allen Varney]

I only wish the 'negative vibe' against advertising would prompt a wider examination of its toxic effects on society. For some inexplicable reason Adbbusters [adbusters.org] and No Logo [nologo.org] don't get a lot of exposure on commercial TV networks, wonder why?

We have lost, almost completely, the concept of pandering as harmful. In the Divine Comedy, Dante put the panders in the sixth circle of Hell, lower (and hence worse than) than the murderers. Someday a lot of DoubleClick guys will join them...

Re:popup ads, not the same as newspaper ads

[unborracho]

Although you have a valid point, this dosen't apply to only popups - you are missing the full scope of this argument by Doubleclick.

I don't think that you quite understand the significance that AdBlock provides for FireFox functionality

Right now I'm browsing slashdot ad-free (No, i'm not a subscriber) because of this this tool. All you have to do is right click the image and block the entire domain (the server/directory serving the ad-images) and all of the ads on a site magically vanish.

This is very comprable to newspapers since the ad is inline with the content, not like popups where they're annoying and obtrusive. The fact is, AdBlock makes it possible to read a newspaper with the Ad's just completely gone, only the newspaper is the internet.

You know what?

[maynard]

If I get to choose between paying for content or having advertising shoved down my throat, I'll just pay for the content. Unfortunately, the last time we were offered this choice - the emergence of cable TV - we got the shaft and wound up both paying for the content and having advertising shoved into our faces to boot. Guess what. It's my computer; it's my TV; it's my magazine; they're my eyes. I don't have view these ads if I choose not to. That simple. JMO. --M

AdBlock Filter Here!

[node159]

Here's a good adblock filter for those looking to get started. It has been known to be slightly overzelus, but besides the fluke site, it works wonders.

Welcome to the new old internet, enjoy the peace and quiet =D.

[Adblock]
/\/(ad|commercial|marketing|promo(tion)?|shop|spon sor)s?\//
/((double|fast|ad)click|click(xchange|sor))/
/(page|side|text)_?ads?/
/rcm.*\.amazon/
/(adsdk|a1\.yimg|akamai|amznxslt|atdmt|atwola|bilb o\.counted|bizrate|bonnint|brides\.ru|edge\.ru|hit box|falkag|maxserving|promote\.pair|realmedia|sant a\.imho|servedby|spinbox|tribalfusion|qksrv|zedo)/
/\/ads?(\.[\w]*){2,3}\//
/(ima?ge?|ad)serv/
/(ad|banner|sponsor)s?_?(id|ima?ge?|[0-9]*x[0-9]*) /
googlesyndication
us.yimg.com/a/
/\/buy_assets\//
/[\W\d_](top|bottom|left|right|)?banner(s|id=|\d|_ )[\W\d]/
/[\W\d](double|fast)click[\W\d]/
/[\W\d]click(stream|thrutraffic|thru|xchange)[\W\d ]/
/[\W\d]value(stream|xchange|click)[\W\d]/
/[\W\d]dime(xchange|click)[\W\d]/
/[\W\d](onlineads?|ad(banner|click|-?flow|frame|im a?g(es?)?|_id|js|log|serv(er|e)?|stream|_string|s| trix|type|vertisements?|v|vert|xchange)?)[\W\d]/
/(hot|spy)log/
/[\W_](b(an|nr)s?|jump|redir(ect|s)?|stat)[\W_]/
/\W(cy|r)?c(ou)?nt(er|ed)?\W/
/p(artner|ing\.cgi|romotion)/
reklama
/sp(onsor|ymagic)/
/top(100|cto)/
/\D\d{2,3}x\d{2,3}\D/

Re:Indeed, this is the free market at work.

[Fulcrum of Evil]

Ok, lets pick a site that practically everyone uses - Google. How exactly are they going to provide free services without the financial support of their advertising systems?

Who blocks google ads? We don't block ads because we hate the advertisers, we do it because the ads are obnoxious and intrusive. The advertisers responded by making their ads more obnoxious, intrusive and sneaky. They need to get a clue.

Re:AdBlock Filter Here!

[slothdog]

Try this site [nyud.net] for a very comprehensive (and frequently updated) adblock filterset. I haven't seen an ad in ages.