[colefichter]

It does seem strange, doesn't it?

I've heard that it's because the BBC is forbidden from showing adverts to UK citizens, and since they have a little "promoted content" box at the bottom of the page they have to block it from you.

Something along the lines of if they show you adverts, they lose that TV license funding, which would be catastrophic.

I have no idea if that's true, but it passes the sniff test.

[jfoutz]

It's funny they use location to block the site rather than block the ad. They could use the space for links to other articles.

[Sealy]

I'd love to know the reason. Slightly off topic though admittedly.

[spiralpolitik]

Within the UK the BBC is not allowed to run advertisements, or promote or endorse products. It's part of their charter. The funding for the BBC comes via the TV License and the revenue generated by BBC Worldwide (the commercial arm).

For viewers outside the UK there is no such restrictions and given that funding for digital ventures by the BBC is now somewhat limited (due to complaints by the commercial sector that they could not compete with the BBC) they try to recoup some money by running advertising.