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I tend to agree with you but I also think that the IAB is recognizing the unique threat that ABP specifically (as opposed to adblocking generally) poses to the industry. I'll explain what I mean. ABP has a mafia-style business model based on extorting advertisers for inclusion on an acceptable ads list. Whether you agree with the concept of acceptable ads or not, it's pretty clear that ABP's narrative is hollow and their implementation is focused on their own bottom line: nearly every programmatic ad exchange who is willing to pay money is whitelisted as ''acceptable''. It's a client-side tollbooth erected between users and the sites they visit, extracting money from the ecosystem for little value in return. At some point it isn't even ''adblock'' any more because so many ads are whitelisted, and (as a former user) I think ABP clearly passed that point awhile back. Their brand, momentum, and marketing allow them to keep users captive. There's probably opportunity in creating new adblock clients with no whitelist, growing the userbase, and then selling out to someone with an acceptable ads list, as there should be slow but eventual migration (which uBlock's growth points to). At the point that the acceptable ads business model becomes normalized, it's fair to ask, where does it end? You will see every company with client software rolling out adblocking features (with tollbooth, of course). It's senseless, inefficient, and doesn't reward good actors (actually, likely rewards bad actors). I'm not saying that web publishers and their ad tech minions didn't bring this sandstorm upon themselves (I believe they did, and shed no tears for them), but even so, the future of the web is not dueling mobs of client-side adblocking thugs with variable rate cards for ad networks to bypass their intended functionality. At least I hope it's not. I'm no fan of the IAB but I can at least admit to being impressed that someone there had the insight to take this stand, if that's indeed what it is. |