Outlook Ads

Inclusion proposals for "acceptable ads" list are discussed here. New topics cannot be created, constructive comments are welcome, flaming will be removed.

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edmundo
ABP Technical Account Manager
Posts: 142
Joined: Tue Aug 02, 2016 4:14 pm

Outlook Ads

Post by edmundo »

Proposed filters:

Code: Select all

||ow2.res.office365.com/owamail/*/resources/images/ab1.gif$domain=outlook.live.com
@@||ow2.res.office365.com/owamail/*/resources/images/ab2.gif$domain=outlook.live.com
Link to a test page:
outlook.live.com

Advertising type:
Display located at Above content, Right Rail

Additional Technical Information:
none

Concerns:
none
ecawilson
Posts: 2
Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2019 2:52 pm

Re: Outlook Ads

Post by ecawilson »

I assume this proposal went live just a few days ago. I haven't looked at the filters to confirm, my apologies for bothering if my assumption is inaccurate.

I created this forum account to inform that I just disabled "Allow Acceptable Ads" specifically because of this change. The ads in outlook.live.com are intrusive in that they change size/shape/color every time I click in the window, whether to read the next email or navigate to another folder in my account. They are also intrusive in that the load times are long enough that it locks up multiple browser tabs while I am waiting for the ad to load.

I don't know how many years I have been allowing acceptable ads, I think I remember when this option was created, and I thought it was a good idea then.

Before I realized that turning off the 'Allow Acceptable Ads' option would solve this problem, I did submit a ticket with screenshot and browser information. The load times were so bad, I really thought it was a bug.

I'll subscribe to this thread, and if a solution is posted, I may very well allow acceptable ads again.

I understand that outlook.live.com is a service offered for free, ostensibly in exchange for viewing ads. If their business model requires me to view ads in order to not lose the email address I have had for 20 years, ABP isn't going to change that. But, since we all know that they can tell when ads are being blocked (there has always been a notice showing that they can tell their ads are being blocked, and trying to get you to purchase premium), this seems like a problem they (not ABP) ought to be solving. I suggest that adding intrusive ads to ABP's acceptable ads list is not the best solution for Microsoft's cash flow problem, nor is it ABP's responsibility in the first place.

But this is your business, and I am grateful for the benefit I receive from it. If allowing outlook ads is best for ABP's cash flow, I won't second guess you. Thank you for the work that you do in making the web an easier to navigate place for myself and my children.
sbell
ABP Technical Support Specialist
Posts: 522
Joined: Wed Jul 05, 2017 8:08 pm

Re: Outlook Ads

Post by sbell »

Hello!

Thanks for reaching out to us! We certainly appreciate your feedback! I'm curious where exactly you submitted your ticket. I would be interested in seeing the screenshots of the ads you were experiencing. You can find the acceptable ad criteria here https://acceptableads.com/en/about/criteria. If you experience ads that are outside of this criteria, we do appreciate you letting us know so we can investigate further. Thank you again for your feedback.

Thanks
Shannon
ABP Support Team
ecawilson
Posts: 2
Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2019 2:52 pm

Re: Outlook Ads

Post by ecawilson »

Sure.
I just hit the 'report issue' button that is in the context menu when I hit the icon for the AdBlockPlus extension in chrome. I don't know where it took me from there.
And, thanks for the link. That is a good point. Load times are no where listed, and do not seem to be a criteria. I don't know why load times were dramatically increased when those ads were whitelisted, I just know that they were. And that load times went right back down again, after I turned off acceptable ads. There was no restart or closing browser windows or anything else in between, the load times just changed dramatically.
The one point on that page that might fit my other concern reads is at the bottom: "Ads that visibly load new ads if the Primary Content does not change". I guess you would have to tell me if reading the next email, or just deleting an email, means that the Primary Content of the webpage is changing. To be clear, a new ad was being loaded for each of those actions and more, when just navigating through my email. And the ads were different sizes (changing the sizes of the panels and resizing the text in those panels), different colors, and very slow loading. I think that scrolling through my email or deleting an email does not mean that the primary content of the webpage is changing. If you think it does, then the ads are acceptable by that webpage. Not acceptable for me, but I don't make the rules.
Sorry I am not more help.
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