![Very Happy :D](./images/smilies/icon_biggrin.gif)
PC World
August 2007
Full Disclosure column
Stephen Manes
Web Ads: A Cat-and-Mouse Game
Entire article: http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,132972/article.html
relevant section of the article:
--------------------------------------------
" ...... I've been spending the past few weeks surfing with the help of a Firefox add-on called Adblock Plus, and the Internet has suddenly become a quieter, more civilized, less commercial place. ABP has dozens of geeky customization options, but the simplest way to use it is to subscribe to a couple of lists that have pretty much figured out what you don't want. The combo of EasyList & EasyElement does a wonderful job of nuking ads and reformatting the rest of the Web page to eliminate the resulting holes.
Eliminating most of the blinky, flashy distractions pays big dividends in how quickly you can navigate Web pages and how rarely they'll bug you. The software isn't perfect -- for example, it can shut you out of sites such as Salon.com that insist on your sitting through an ad before proceeding. But you can turn it off temporarily with two clicks on the browser toolbar.
Of course, if everybody used Adblock Plus, publishers (including PC World) would be out of business -- until somebody figured out the next escalation. But you know what? If ads annoy you enough to make you install this kind of software, I don't think you're the sort of person the advertisers want to reach anyway."
------------------------------------------------------------------------
ps: Thanx to columnist Stephen Manes for writing this as it must be difficult to write an article like this on a site that has its ads blocked by the same program you are praising. Some folks have 'honest' integrity ... and you seem to be one. The last line of your article is a message that I have been trying to get into the heads of advertisers for a long time now ... thanks for echoing it for me.
![Very Happy :D](./images/smilies/icon_biggrin.gif)