A French group of publishers, including Microsoft and Google, plan to sue developers of ad-blocking software, such as Adblock Plus, over the impact they have on the web-based services they offer.
Ad-block scripts have grown in popularity recently, and Adblock Plus is a living example of how such an application can be successful, especially when combined with an effective search engine and easy-to-use configuration options.
At this point, Adblock Plus alone has at least 5 million users in France, about 2 million in the UK, and 1.5 million in Spain. According to statistics from the Times of India, more than 144 million users worldwide now turn to Adblock Plus for “clean” browsing, a number up 69 percent from the previous year.
The success of Adblock Plus can be seen in numbers if we consider that, depending on various factors, including the website each user visits, up to 60% of Internet users have installed such an application to block annoying ads.
As a result of the growing demand for ad-blocking programs, publishers in France, such as Microsoft, Google, and local newspapers, are threatening to sue companies that develop such applications, hoping that such a decision would lead to fewer users developing such services.
Some of these websites are supported solely by funds coming from online advertising, so the greater the number of users who block ads, the less revenue each website will generate.
The online edition of the French newspaper, L'Equipe, which is one of the companies to file a complaint against developers and companies of ad-blocking programs, has decided to restrict access to its website for users who have such a service running on their computers.
“Unauthorized access. L'Equipe.fr is funded by advertising, which allows us to offer you free content,” reads the message seen by users using Adblock Plus.
Xavier Spender, deputy CEO of L'Equipe, says users can get rid of the ads if they pay a premium subscription, but as long as they want the free version, the ads are there to generate revenue.
Some wonder if ad-blocking is ultimately to blame for the decline in website traffic or if users use such programs because as soon as they open a website, they are inundated with several annoying ads.
