#ADBLOCK PLUS. SOFTWARE#
#ADBLOCK PLUS. PLUS#

Other whitelisting contributors like Criteo and Taboola must also reconcile their incremental revenue gains from the Acceptable Ads program and the displeasure they incur from the media industry and trade groups.ДЇranchi said the IAB, where heвЂ™s a board member, responded to the critiques of ad blockers with open-source initiatives like LEAN and DEAL, which provide best practices and tools for publishers to lighten their ad loads or establish direct advertising value exchanges with readers in return for content. Kint called out Google specifically for underwriting much of ABPвЂ™s revenue вЂ“ essentially funding products that undermine the ad industry. вЂњIвЂ™m not worried because it provides value to all our partners, and all our partners make more money because of it at the end of the day,вЂќ he said.

#ADBLOCK PLUS. SOFTWARE#

There are only 70 or so companies paying whitelisting fees, and sources have told AdExchanger that Google alone accounts for a significant chunk of that revenue.ДЇaida said Eyeo GmbH (the software parent company of ABP) would remain profitable if any single partner abandoned whitelisting.

#ADBLOCK PLUS. PLUS#

But neither Flattr Plus nor the ABP SSP have emerged from beta, and the SSP was undercut by its would-be demand sources AppNexus and Google AdX, which immediately suspended ABPвЂ™s buyer seat on their exchanges.ДЄBPвЂ™s opponents see its reliance on whitelisting revenue as a potential vulnerability. ItвЂ™s also working on a supply-side platform (SSP). ABP announced a service in May called Flattr Plus, designed to distribute monthly fees to each userвЂ™s most visited sites. One source with knowledge of GoogleвЂ™s anti-ad blocker strategy said network-level blocking was theoretically a more serious threat than ad block apps or browser extensions, but that its lack of users and daunting regulatory hurdles in Europe and the US make it a functional nonconcern.ДЄBP has also struggled to develop revenue streams beyond its Acceptable Ads whitelist. Network-level ad blocking, a niche carved out by an Israeli startup, Shine, gave the industry a good scare but has since fizzled. Despite German publishing giant Axel SpringerвЂ™s barrage of legal action, вЂњthe debate is much less emotional now because people have accepted the fact and legitimacy of ad blocking on browsers and phones,вЂќ Faida said.ДЄnother reason why ad blocking didnвЂ™t change the industry: Many companies supplying the technology either failed or struggled to drive revenue. The IAB and publishers in Europe initially responded to ad blockers with cries of extortion and threats of legal action (and in fact, German publishers have brought ABP to court six times). The ad industry has also come to terms with ad blockingвЂ™s existence and role. вЂњItвЂ™s a window of opportunity for the industry and shouldnвЂ™t be seen as anything other than that.вЂќ

вЂњThere are encouraging trends, depending on what country youвЂ™re looking at, but you have to take into consideration that this is happening alongside a continual shift to mobile,вЂќ he said. Kint said digital media companies shouldnвЂ™t underestimate the potential for mobile adoption, given the compelling value proposition for blocking smartphone ads: data charges, more control over privacy and a superior user experience. вЂњBut we see high adoption rates, especially with young people, and as young people switch to mobile, thatвЂ™s going to be our biggest product focus.вЂќ вЂњFor us, yes, some markets have plateaued a bit,вЂќ acknowledged Till Faida, CEO of ABP.

Even as ad blockers arrived in AppleвЂ™s App Store and GoogleвЂ™s Play Store, mobile ad blocking (in the US, at least) hasnвЂ™t become a real threat.Д«ut Adblock Plus (ABP), the worldвЂ™s most popular ad blocker and founder of the Acceptable Ads whitelisting program, which is the primary revenue source for the whole ad blocker ecosystem, sees the lack of mobile ad blocking as a growth opportunity. The contradictory points of view are really flip sides of the same coin. вЂњPeople were literally saying this is the death of the web, and if you look at the data today, mobile ad blocking didnвЂ™t happen and thereвЂ™s a complete unacknowledged plateauing of ad blocking in the US,вЂќ said Eric Franchi, co-founder and senior VP of business development at Undertone.Д«ut Jason Kint, CEO of the trade association Digital Content Next, says ad blocking is still a long-term threat to the industry: вЂњThe flattening numbers are a red herring due to the consumption shift to mobile, where ad blocking has very little penetration.вЂќ A year ago, the rise of ad blockers put the online advertising ecosystem into an existential crisis.Д«ut not only did the вЂ adpocalypseвЂ™ never materialize, many of the same stakeholders who were on the defensive now see a chance to reclaim lost ground.

Adblock plus.