eCommerce Tycoon

**delighted** · 04-18-2008, 06:11 PM

The number of visitors that are blocking ads on my pages is increasing, and I think this could become a quite a big problem for me and for other site owners.

Do you actively do anything to deal with this problem?

I have been thinking of somehow creating a layer behind the ads, so when they are blocked, this layer will show with links to my own sites. At least I will have the benefit of self-advertisement then. Anyone tried this approach?

**vangogh** · 04-18-2008, 07:06 PM

I always figured the person blocking ads on your site wasn't going to buy anything anyway so why worry. The only time it might come into play is if you sell ads based on impressions, but even then ad blockers aren't delivering targeted traffic.

I think this is something advertisers and publishers need to adjust to and not something where we should force ads on people. If you force ads on people who don't like them their next step is to leave and not come back.

**delighted** · 04-19-2008, 04:37 PM

Good arguments, but on the other hand, I guess if everyone had the technical ability to easily block ads, they would do it. Very few actually want, or like, to see ads.

It's a good thing, tough, that neither MSIE nor Firefox has ad-blocking enabled by default without the need of extensions (except pop-up blocking, that is). I believe developers understand that blocking ads is not in the benefit of anyone in the long run. Many present and future publishers’ incentives to create good content would weaken or disappear if they have no pecuniary advantage of doing so.

And I agree, advertisers and publishers will have to adjust in order to make business worthwhile. But as long as the only possible source of income (for many types of websites) is exactly advertisements, I simply don’t see any feasible adjustments other than trying to “force ads on people” (which sounds like a horrible and cruel thing to do).

**Feydakin** · 05:12 PM

There have been ad blockers for as long as I can remember.. Add to that the ad / banner blindness so many people have these days and it's just not worth worrying about..

Oh yeah, force ads on me and I block your site at the router at home and at the office.. Never to be seen again.. You should see my blacklist, it's massive.. And I like it

**A Monkey Typing** · 04-19-2008, 06:45 PM

Right now it's not a big deal because not enough people do it, and if enough people did, advertisers would find another way of delivering their ads.

**vangogh** · 04-19-2008, 07:01 PM

delighted I have the ability and the know how to block ads and I choose not to. I don't mind seeing most of them. Some are too much and I don't visit the sites again, but others present ads that may be relevant to me and I don't mind seeing them so I don't block them.

To me it seems that if people don't want to see ads then those ads aren't going to be effective anyway. What I think needs to change is the way we advertise. Right now we're seeing more blending of content and advertising to the point where it's sometimes difficult to determine where one ends and the other begins.

Right or wrong something like AdSense works better the more it looks like real content. That's why you'll often see it along the left hand side and made to look like navigation. Clearly there are some ethical issues there as people don't want to be tricked into clicking on an ad. Of course if what's on the other side of the ad is what the user was looking for is it really a problem.

Look at tv and movies. For years we've been seeing more and product placement in the content. Pick your favorite show and your favorite character from that show and there's a good chance he or she has been shown holding a can of Coke or Pepsi. 20 years ago the can would have been a generic can of Soda.

Ultimately I think advertisers have to respond to their customers and potential customers. If a visitor to your site has taken the step of installing something to block your ads do you really think forcing them to view those ads is going to result in any sales? I don't. I think people selling the ads based on impression are going to lose money, but at the same time if they can show that their visitors who do see the ads are turning into leads and customers at a higher rate they should be able to charge more for the space.

Another thing you'll see more and more in the months and years ahead is people paying for the content itself. Again it's a blending of content with the business model.

**robertss** · 04-27-2008, 02:47 PM

If you are really worried about them, I would try to alternate to different ad services. Most adblockers block based on a specific URL or or provider so if you switch providers the ads won't be blocked until they add the new provider to the list. As long as adblockers don't become too mainstream, I don't think it will be a big issue.