The ad-blocking software you may have cleverly added to your Internet browser is no match for the mighty engineers at Facebook.
The social media giant announced it will start forcing ads to appear for all desktop users, including those shielded by the popular anti-ad programs.
鈥淎s we offer more powerful controls, we鈥檒l also begin showing ads on Facebook desktop for people who are currently using ad-blocking software,鈥� said VP of ads and business platform Andrew Bosworth in a blog post Tuesday.
The explosive popularity of browser extensions and plug-ins like Adblock Plus cost online publishers an estimated $21.8 billion in lost revenue last year, according to a report by PageFair. The anti-ad-blocking startup found that 198 million people worldwide are using ad blockers online, a 41 per cent increase from 2014.
Facebook hailed the changes as much-needed support for ad supported online services like media outlets. However, others see the move as an attempt by the company to cozy up to advertisers at the expense of its user base.
鈥淭his is an unfortunate move, because it takes a dark path against user choice,鈥� said Ben Williams, communications manager for Eyeo GMbh, in a blog post on the AdBlock Plus site.
Williams dismissed Facebook鈥檚 efforts as the latest example of the 鈥渃at-and-mouse games in tech (that) have been around as long as spammers have tried to circumvent spam filters.鈥�
The move to block ad blockers was part of a broader push to revamp advertisements on the social network鈥檚 desktop website. The Silicon Valley-based company says improvements to its ad preference options will make it easier for users to block certain types of undesirable ads.
鈥淚f you don鈥檛 want to see ads about a certain interest like travel or cats, you can remove the interest from your ad preferences,鈥� said Bosworth.
Facebook says the updated advertising settings will also allow users to see which businesses add them to customer lists and provides them an option to remove themselves if they choose to.
Facebook鈥檚 salvo against ad blockers may be a largely symbolic one. Eighty-four per cent of the company鈥檚 second quarter ad revenue came from mobile users, according regulatory filings. Facebook鈥檚 mobile applications are still vulnerable to ad-blocking software.
In his blog post, Bosworth criticized some ad-blocking companies for accepting money from advertisers to allow their content to reach users unblocked. Adblock Plus clams the practice is meant to encourage advertisers to produce 鈥渘onintrusive advertising rather than annoying, irrelevant ads.鈥�
鈥淩ather than paying ad blocking companies to unblock the ads we show, as some of these companies have invited us to do in the past, we鈥檙e putting control in people鈥檚 hands with our updated ad preferences and our other advertising controls,鈥� said Bosworth.
鈥淚f nothing else, all this attention from Facebook shows that ad blocking has finally made the big time,鈥� said Williams.
