Millions of people around the world may think they are free from having to see annoying ads on the web because they have ad-blocking software installed, but one ad-blocker actually allows a few "acceptable ads" to get through the filter.
It has long been rumored that Google is quietly sneaking around Adblock Plus by paying Eyeo, the German company that owns the software, a confidential sum of money to continue publishing its ads even for users who have Adblock Plus installed.
According to the Financial Times, the rumor is confirmed and so are other speculations that other major advertisers, including Microsoft, Amazon and Taboola have closed a similar deal with Eyeo to unblock their ads.
Apparently, Eyeo makes money by allowing some companies to pay to be included in a whitelist of advertisers, whose ads are not blocked provided they are in line with the criteria in Eyeo's "acceptable ads" program. For instance, ads that "are not annoying," "do not disrupt or distort the page content we're trying to read," and "are effective without shouting at us," are considered acceptable ads that can be whitelisted.
"Of course, we understand that advertising is the economic engine that drives the Internet and gives us free websites and great content. But as click-through rates continue to decline, many online advertisements have regrettably become obnoxious and obtrusive and annoying in a desperate effort to be heard," said Eyeo.
"In turn, hundreds of millions of consumers have responded by installing ad-blockers, which further depresses click-through rates. The vicious cycle worsens. We want to reverse the cycle," Eyeo added.
Eyeo whitelists small websites and publishers for free, but deep-pocketed major publishers pay a hefty amount to have their ads whitelisted "to make the initiative sustainable." Although Eyeo did not tell the FT how much it charges Google and others, one digital advertiser speaking on condition of anonymity said Eyeo charges 30 percent of the additional revenue that would be made if the ads are unblocked.
Adblock Plus is one of the most popular software for blocking websites on the Internet, with more than 50 million monthly users and 300 million downloads from around the world. Users still have the option to block all ads, including those on the whitelist, but the default setting is to allow whitelisted ads to appear.
A study conducted by PageFair, an Ireland-based startup that helps advertisers unlock their block ads, majority of Internet users are more accepting of ads with a less intrusive format, perhaps similar to Google's context-relevant ads, but are strongly against intrusive ads such as interstitials and pop-ups.
The report indicates that Google and other companies who make a fair amount of their fortunes from advertising are at least wary of the growing threat of ad-blocking.
