Here’s The Thing With Ad Blocker detection code.<br><br>I get it: Ads aren’t ...

Julian Bond - 2016-11-21 09:44:30+0000 - Updated: 2016-11-21 09:45:40+0000

Here’s The Thing With Ad Blocker detection code.

I get it: Ads aren’t what I'm here for. But ads help the site keep the lights on. So, I've added your site to my ad blocker’s whitelist.

So why are you still showing me the adblocker warning message and preventing me from reading your content?

Could it be because I've got doubleclick in my /etc/hosts file pointing at localhost because I don't particularly want doubleclick and google tracking everything I do, everywhere on the web. Can't your adblocker detection code tell the difference?

Oh well. That's another site I'll try and remember not to click through to.

So what do the common adblocker detection libraries actually look for?

Julian Bond - 2016-11-21 11:34:41+0000

Here's the thing though. If it's free, you're the product. And part of what makes you the product is not the ads but the tracking that comes with the ads. The Adblocker and adblock techniques are not just to hide all the visual noise but also to put a roadblock in the way of the tracking. So hey Wired, how about you try not being evil and not participating in the whole consumer as product ecosystem.