[Done] Criteria for "acceptable" advertising

Various discussions related to Adblock Plus development
Silico
Posts: 41
Joined: Tue Oct 18, 2011 7:31 am

Re: Why do we block ads?

Post by Silico »

C wrote: The other half of why we block ads, is as Till implies:
ads frequently mis-inform and brainwash the viewer.
Yes, distraction is only one of the two main reasons I block ads. The other is because ads represent the most biased form of information, which can lead me into making bad decisions. These days I can use organic search results, professional editorial, forum posts by peers, and direct-mail catalogs (which I can attend to at my convenience) to make me aware of my options and help me choose between them.

Even though it's becoming more and more corrupted by advertisers, editorial content is a sounder basis than ads on which to base decisions. But how can this content be funded without the annoyance and deception of surrounding it with advertising, and without the barrier of a paywall?
MadMax
Posts: 14
Joined: Sun Aug 14, 2011 7:58 am

Re: Criteria for "acceptable" advertising

Post by MadMax »

Ad banners can also be used to sneak malware onto a user's system as well.
Guest

Re: Why do we block ads?

Post by Guest »

Silico wrote:But how can this content be funded without ... the barrier of a paywall?
One solution is post-payment: pay after you view the content.
lewisje
Posts: 2743
Joined: Mon Jun 14, 2010 12:07 pm

Re: Criteria for "acceptable" advertising

Post by lewisje »

MadMax wrote:Ad banners can also be used to sneak malware onto a user's system as well.
This is the main reason I block ads; a secondary reason is for faster page loads.
There's a buzzin' in my brain I really can't explain; I think about it before they make me go to bed.
User avatar
vinny86
Posts: 735
Joined: Thu Sep 16, 2010 6:17 pm

Re: Criteria for "acceptable" advertising

Post by vinny86 »

How about we let the users decide what sites to whitelist or not ? the post install page can be modified to include a warning... saying ads pay the bills (for most sites ;) )
and the user decides whether to whitelist websites or not.. .like no script ? but not as annoying for the average user.

we will need a tutorial of about 2 to 3 slide like pages ... WOT/ghostery (to some extent) does it nicely.

ABP can install itself to the toolbar by default and not the addon bar. i still don't understand why it installs itself to the addon bar right now :D

drop down menu just by hover and not by click, and a eye catching "enable or disable ads on this website" buttons (1st and 3rd part et al)
lewisje
Posts: 2743
Joined: Mon Jun 14, 2010 12:07 pm

Re: Criteria for "acceptable" advertising

Post by lewisje »

vinny86 wrote:i still don't understand why it installs itself to the addon bar right now
It's big and annoying in the main toolbar; I would always move it to the status/addon toolbar before.
There's a buzzin' in my brain I really can't explain; I think about it before they make me go to bed.
Silico
Posts: 41
Joined: Tue Oct 18, 2011 7:31 am

Re: Criteria for "acceptable" advertising

Post by Silico »

Guest wrote:
Silico wrote:But how can this content be funded without ... the barrier of a paywall?
One solution is post-payment: pay after you view the content.
Yes, the advantages of post-payment over a paywall are a much greater audience for the material (especially through sharing), the ability to earn income from drive-by users (who often won't see a paywall because they arrive via a search engine or social media), and because it offers a way for users to be confident of getting value for money (they only pay if they found the material helpful). The downside of post-payment is how to get people to pay after they've consumed.

My company has tried to solve this by making it possible for people to make these payments during a post-purchase cashback claim. Rebate claimers are able to reward those who helped them choose the purchase in question by paying both pre-agreed deferred fees and voluntary donations out of their cashback entitlements. Helpers can include publishers, broadcasters, full-service retailers, consultants, and app writers.

My thoughts are that donations are more likely here than is usual because the money is not coming straight out of people's wallets, and because the purchaser has just stated during the claim that those publications and services were helpful to them. Donations can also buy credits to view paywalled material.

Services like Adblock Plus, that don't offer purchasing advice, but who make the purchasing process more pleasant and focussed, can register as special donations-only Helpers, who can still be rewarded for their work.
guest

Re: Criteria for "acceptable" advertising

Post by guest »

I think you are working into the wrong direction. I think a good adblocker should download all the stuff, so the website sees no difference to a normal browser without a blocker. The only thing to be blocked should be the display.

You go to the sites, take their content but refuse to "pay" by loading the ads. They won't change their type of ad. They just will try to block the content unless you don't disable the blocker.

"Load it all, even simulate some clicks to the banners but keep it all harmless. Give dummy-data if requested. Keep the user free of the anoyment and don't display all that stuff" that should be the target of a good blocker.

Instead of blocking the scripts invite the analysts into a virtual world and feed them dummy-data. Display to the user what data was requested and give a way to configure realistic dummy data.
Silico
Posts: 41
Joined: Tue Oct 18, 2011 7:31 am

Re: Criteria for "acceptable" advertising

Post by Silico »

A site is done no favours when ads are requested but not displayed, or when clicks are faked. In the long run a site's ad rates will reflect the effectiveness of their ads, as measured by purchase or click-through rates.

If a site can detect a disparity between their page load rates and ad load rates, it gives them a sense of their users' use of ad-blockers, giving them an incentive to get paid in a way that doesn't push intrusive spin.

Adblock Plus may however have to request ads when a site only delivers content once the ads have been requested.
lewisje
Posts: 2743
Joined: Mon Jun 14, 2010 12:07 pm

Re: Criteria for "acceptable" advertising

Post by lewisje »

guest wrote:I think you are working into the wrong direction. I think a good adblocker should download all the stuff, so the website sees no difference to a normal browser without a blocker. The only thing to be blocked should be the display.
four syllables: "mal-ver-tis-ing"

that explains why I want to block ads rather than merely hiding them
There's a buzzin' in my brain I really can't explain; I think about it before they make me go to bed.
Silico
Posts: 41
Joined: Tue Oct 18, 2011 7:31 am

Re: Criteria for "acceptable" advertising

Post by Silico »

Since each ABP user's criteria for acceptable advertising is different, I think it should work like this:

1. ABP allows users to tick a series of boxes that describe the ads that they would be happy to see, based on criteria such as sound, video, animation, graphic/text, roll-over, pop-under, overlay, hideability, targeting, derived from user search, brand awareness or deal, colour, size, product category, etc.

2. Advertisers log-on to adblockplus.org to self-assess their ads according to the same criteria. They are able to see what percentage of ABP users will display an ad of each type. ABP provides advertisers with a code that can be embedded in ads to identify an ad's category.

3. ABP displays ads that are a match between a user's criteria and an ad's type, as read from the ad's code.

4. Users are given an easy way to report any ad that has misrepresented its category. Given enough reports, ABP admins can blacklist that advertiser/network domain. Users who have checked "hide ads from blacklisted advertisers" (on by default) will no longer see these ads, even if they would have found them acceptable.

5. An advertiser can get un-blacklisted by paying ABP a fine / admin fee.

Blacklisting removal fees would be another way of funding ABP & filter development, in addition to the donation-from-rebate method I mentioned in my earlier post. I'm not sure that ABP could also directly charge advertisers for supplying them with crypto-signed ad-category codes.

Speaking for myself, I don't like "synchronous" advertising that forces me to process an ad at a time not of my choosing. So the only online ads I may find acceptable are website spiels and non-distracting search-engine ads. Even then I would put much more weight on organic results from independent sources.
Wladimir Palant

Re: Criteria for "acceptable" advertising

Post by Wladimir Palant »

I'm closing this topic - the discussion here unfortunately isn't helpful. I got some idea what people consider acceptable (both here and from the survey) but the exact technical specification will have to be worked out outside the forum. I hope to get useful feedback once it is published nevertheless.
Locked