Tech Town, NC

This report from the NY Times does the (dis)service of bringing Adblock Plus into the mainstream, informing all the Mom & Dad internet users out there that they can block advertising on any website. The article itself presents somewhat of a paradox, in that it is reporting on Adblock as a “niche” add-on for a “niche” browser, but the article itself risks launching Adblock Plus to new heights.

Some commenters on the “Bits” blog section of the Times argue that blocking ads is no different from muting ads on TV, or skipping them via TiVo. That’s a specious argument. While it is a similar experience from the audience’s perspective, from the content producer/publisher’s point of view it’s different in a very damaging way. When you mute a commercial, the TV Network, actors, writers, and producers all still get paid by the advertiser. When you block the ads on a website, the website loses revenue. Impressions decrease, and click through rates plummet.

Perversely, the web may be outsmarting itself here. Think about it - if advertisers are no longer able to count on eyeballs online, and click through rates drop to near zero, where will they turn? Traditional media. Will it be a newspaper, magazine, and television renaissance? Not likely, but it may help them halt their free fall and reestablish their value proposition to advertisers.