Hello,
I'm new to adblock plus and don't have any experience with it actually but I'm looking to protect my 5yr old from being exposed to ads (for multiple reasons).
Does adblock extension block the ad's http requests from going out to where the ad is hosted, or does it block the ad during rendering of the page in the browser? The latter would make ad revenue a non-issue for me (someone who never clicks on ads and would prefer to keep his child's eyes away from ads) to choose to block ads at my browser, without taking away click revenue from those providing content...
Thanks for clarifying this,
A.
blocks http requests or rendering within browser
Re: blocks http requests or rendering within browser
Most filters tell ABP to block the HTTP requests, and some (known as "hiding filters") hide particular elements: filter-cheatsheet
However, there is no way to tell ABP to download an ad and then not render it; this behavior has been frequently suggested and rejected as tantamount to view-fraud on the part of advertisers.
However, there is no way to tell ABP to download an ad and then not render it; this behavior has been frequently suggested and rejected as tantamount to view-fraud on the part of advertisers.
There's a buzzin' in my brain I really can't explain; I think about it before they make me go to bed.
Re: blocks http requests or rendering within browser
The requests are blocked from going out.
Re: blocks http requests or rendering within browser
Please excuse the newbie and naive questions i have, I'm only writing to educate myself as a concerned parent...
You wrote "However, there is no way to tell ABP to download an ad and then not render it; this behavior has been frequently suggested and rejected as tantamount to view-fraud on the part of advertisers."
So the design of adblock has to choose between a) blocking rendering and de-frauding the advertisers (the producers of the bad part) or b) blocking http requests going out and potentially preventing revenue from the content providers (the good part you clearly want to visit the page for or you wouldn't click it)?
BTW, how does google pay these days, per click, per rendering of page or something else?
Also, don't browsers already have a reader's view that hides away anything but the main frame for blogs etc? I seem to remember seeing that somewhere although I'm not sure what had I visited that had that option (which I thought was super good by the way!).
Thanks for your responses!
A
You wrote "However, there is no way to tell ABP to download an ad and then not render it; this behavior has been frequently suggested and rejected as tantamount to view-fraud on the part of advertisers."
So the design of adblock has to choose between a) blocking rendering and de-frauding the advertisers (the producers of the bad part) or b) blocking http requests going out and potentially preventing revenue from the content providers (the good part you clearly want to visit the page for or you wouldn't click it)?
BTW, how does google pay these days, per click, per rendering of page or something else?
Also, don't browsers already have a reader's view that hides away anything but the main frame for blogs etc? I seem to remember seeing that somewhere although I'm not sure what had I visited that had that option (which I thought was super good by the way!).
Thanks for your responses!
A
Re: blocks http requests or rendering within browser
It depends on the type of Google ad: Google Search ads (AdWords) pay per click, Google AdSense (ads on other sites, served by Google) pay per impression or per click, and I believe DoubleClick (a subsidiary of Google providing more robust tracking and rich-media ads) pays per impression, per click, or per action (like whether someone actually *buys* a product advertised in the ad).
As for the choice you point out, it's much easier to just block requests than to somehow let the requests happen and then tell the browser not to render the content, but I still think the main objection to the latter behavior is ethical rather than technical, and it is also more secure to do it the former way (in case of malvertising).
The concern that ad-blocking deprives content providers of ad revenue and may lead to the end of freely accessible content providers if most people did it is why Eyeo (the corporate structure built around ABP) started the Acceptable Ads Initiative, which is also used by AdBlock for Chrome and Safari and by most content-blockers for iOS; it sets out criteria for non-annoying advertising, allows advertisers and content providers to request review, and reviews ads for inclusion on the whitelist and for continuing adherence to the criteria. The idea is that the masses who just install ABP and don't configure it will not be so bothered by the kinds of ads they see with this whitelist; of course, the most common piece of advice on these forums now, when people complain about ABP "not working," is to disable the whitelist.
Oh, I forgot to mention, many browsers do include a "reader" view, but that doesn't help from a security perspective if the potential malvertising content has already been downloaded; it is this defense-in-depth aspect of ad-blocking that is precisely why I started doing it, many years ago.
As for the choice you point out, it's much easier to just block requests than to somehow let the requests happen and then tell the browser not to render the content, but I still think the main objection to the latter behavior is ethical rather than technical, and it is also more secure to do it the former way (in case of malvertising).
The concern that ad-blocking deprives content providers of ad revenue and may lead to the end of freely accessible content providers if most people did it is why Eyeo (the corporate structure built around ABP) started the Acceptable Ads Initiative, which is also used by AdBlock for Chrome and Safari and by most content-blockers for iOS; it sets out criteria for non-annoying advertising, allows advertisers and content providers to request review, and reviews ads for inclusion on the whitelist and for continuing adherence to the criteria. The idea is that the masses who just install ABP and don't configure it will not be so bothered by the kinds of ads they see with this whitelist; of course, the most common piece of advice on these forums now, when people complain about ABP "not working," is to disable the whitelist.
Oh, I forgot to mention, many browsers do include a "reader" view, but that doesn't help from a security perspective if the potential malvertising content has already been downloaded; it is this defense-in-depth aspect of ad-blocking that is precisely why I started doing it, many years ago.
There's a buzzin' in my brain I really can't explain; I think about it before they make me go to bed.