Adblock Plus, the company that stops ads from being shown in browsers on websites, is now selling ads.
The move isn’t entirely a shock – its always had a strange ‘acceptable ads‘ policy that said it could let some through the net but now it’s actively selling ad space in your browser.
On one hand, and pointing out the obvious self-interest as a journalist and publisher, quality editorial content is suffering because of ad-blocking, but on the other, ads are, really, really annoying and frequently intrusive.
I’m torn.
One thing, however, that seems pretty immovable for me is that if you build you business (over 50 million users and counting) based on a clear promise – it’s in the name – then you should deliver that at a minimum and find other ways to monetize your product.
I can appreciate that in a particular light, it could even be seen as beneficial to publishing, but it’s hard to really resolve that suggestion with mounting editorial layoffs at almost any publisher you pick.
The adblock debate is a tough one for sure, but if you promise to block ads, you probably shouldn’t start selling them too.
