This article, Search Engine News – The New Ad Blocking Debacle – March 2004 shows an online marketter outlining a new Norton product that effectively blocks ads from being displayed in your browser, and the solution to bypass that.
“If you hate ads, then you’ll be delighted to know that Norton Personal Firewall / Internet Security 2004 (NPFW/IS2004) comes shipped with an ad-blocking feature – with the default set to ON!
Now, isn’t that thoughtful? No longer will your customers need to worry about clicking your money links when they frequent your site. When they read descriptions for certain products and services you’re offering they’ll ponder those missing links because, (drum roll, please) Ta Daaaaa, Norton has nuked em! …yep, wipes them entirely from the source code being displayed by your browser.”
There’s some good points in the article, such as effects this may have on trade laws, and such. However, like the lowly scums of the online universe, they want to take control out of the visitor’s hands, and do what they want. That is wrong. There’s no sugar coating it. If people don’t want to see ads, they have a right to block them. People that want to block ads, are likely the same people that won’t ever buy anything from ads.
This is the classic childishness of online marketting tactics, the me, me, me, and only me thought process. These so-called “market gurus” don’t care about anything except making money, not the quality experience of websites, not the quality (or lack thereof) of the product they’re selling, and certainly not your own comfort.
They’re uncomfortable with the fact that Norton’s product automatically has ad blocking enabled out of the box as default. I agree that can be a bad thing, if Norton wasn’t to inform the users or give a clear indication that ad blocking is enabled. Users should be able to, at whim, enable and disable ad blocking, and have a choice of either when they first load the program up. There’s nothing wrong with that, and that would be the proper way. Let the users have a choice. Saw this via PhotoMatt.
I could get riled up about these idiot marketing types (not to imply that all marketing types are idiots), but it’s all been said over and over, and everyone pretty much agrees that they (either ingorantly or willfully) don’t get it, so I’ll withhold comment.
D’oh, too late ;)