Eyeo, the developer of the most popular adblock software, Adblock Plus, today launched a beta version of its Acceptable Ads Platform that allows websites to add pre-whitelisted advertisements to their site.
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The company called the acceptable ads part of a “compromise between users and advertisers”, and said the new ad marketplace won’t change “much of anything for users”. Facebook’s approach to ads has been in the news in particular, but the battle between advertisers and ad blockers is one that has rumbled on for some time – and looks set to continue to do so.
In a press release, Eyeo CEO and Adblock Plus co-founder Till Faida, says: “There are two ecosystems of online consumers out there right now: the one composed of people who block intrusive ads and the other where people do not”.
For consumers who use Adblock Plus, the technology will still block all non-compliant ads, and even Acceptable Ads can be switched off if users choose to do so, in theory eliminating all advertising. “The Acceptable Ads Platform lets publishers reach the former group”.
“We’ve been waiting years for the ad-tech industry to do something consumer-friendly like this, so finally we got exhausted of waiting and chose to just do it ourselves”, Faida said.
Rather than saving you from seeing ads when you visit websites in the future, Adblock Plus will instead serve up “acceptable” ads.
Adblock Plus is an open source project that aims to rid the Internet of annoying and intrusive online advertising. In addition, ComboTag’s solutions let agencies and trading desks take complete control of where their ads are shown and buy exclusive ad assets for their brands. It still, however, is better than showing no ads at all.
AdBlock Plus is, of course, a longtime tormenter of the advertising and media industries, which see ad blocking in general as an existential threat.
Adblock Plus makes money by charging large companies – including Google, Amazon, Criteo, and Taboola – a fee to get their ads whitelisted.
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Publishers will get 80% of ad revenue from marketplace ads, though they are still unlikely to be too pleased with the arrangement. Adblock Plus plans to form a non-profit committee – made up of stakeholders ranging from ad tech companies, publishers, journalists, academics, and consumer champions – that will act as an independent review board for the program.
