Can you see the ads on this page that help pay for the content? Following a four-month trial, Adblock Plus has defeated a group of German publishers who took the company to court arguing that the product was anti-competitive.
The ad-blocking company was sued by Zeit Online GmbH and Handelsblat under the charge that it should not be allowed to block ads on websites owned by the prosecuting companies, however, the court ruled in favour of Adblock Plus, therefore upholding the right of Adblock Plus users across the globe to continue to block ads as they wish.
Adblock Plus has been downloaded more than 400 million times, with ad-blocking in general running at up to 20% of all registered users across a range of leading sites, demonstrating a growing frustration and intolerance among consumers for ads.
In a blog post for the defending company, project manager Brian Williams has asked publishers, advertisers and content creators to work with Adblock Plus, rather than against them.
“The Hamburg court decision is an important one because it sets a precedent that may help us avoid additional lawsuits and expenses defending what we feel is an obvious consumer right: giving people the ability to control their own screens by letting them block annoying ads and protect their privacy,” said Williams.
“Now that the legalities are out of the way, we want to reach out to other publishers and advertisers and content creators and encourage them to work with Adblock Plus rather than against us.
“Let’s develop new forms of non-intrusive ads that are actually useful and welcomed by users; let’s discover ways to make better ads; let’s push forward to create a more sustainable Internet ecosystem for everyone.”
However, according to a report in the BBC, the publishers have indicated that they intent to fight on.
Tim Cain, managing director for the Association of Online Publishers (AOP), said:
“While some consumers are exercising their perogative to block ads we would suggest that advertising in the right context is a key part of the value proposition of premium content websites, and have plenty of research evidence to suggest consumers are positive towards their inclusion.
“Clearly ad blocking affects campaign delivery effectiveness for advertisers and also, for publishers, the visual appearance of pages.
“Given the reliance on the advertising model for funding content and enabling consumers to most often enjoy free access to content, an increase in ad blocking will undoubtedly have an impact on the ability to continue on these lines and potentially impact on consumer access.”
