Google Buys Ad-Blocking Plugin AdBlock

August 3rd, Beijing Time, according to foreign media reports, Google and the web ad-blocking plugin AdBlock Plus have a complex relationship.

In March of this year, Google removed AdBlock Plus from its app store, Google Play, citing that it interfered with other services or products without authorization. Considering that advertising is Google's "money tree," this action by Google is understandable. However, the U.S.-based electronics industry advocacy group "Electronic Frontier Foundation" stated that Google's actions clearly violated the principles of an open software publishing platform, criticizing the company for "unreasonably reviewing software whenever it involves advertisements and interests."

In July this year, rumors spread that Google and some other unnamed companies were paying to get themselves onto the AdBlock Plus "whitelist," preventing their pop-up ads and banner ads from being blocked by Adblock Plus. This means that even if users download Adblock Plus on their computers, Google advertisers can still display their ads in front of users.

PageFair is a company that provides services to evaluate the cost of ad blocking. According to data provided by PageFair, in 2012, Google recovered $887 million in losses by paying Adblock Plus. Although Google's revenue last year exceeded $50 billion, $887 million is not a small amount.

Many people see value in AdBlock plus; this application reaches daily download counts of 5,000 and 100,000 on Chrome and Firefox platforms respectively. PageFair believes this trend is not a good sign.

PageFair wrote in its blog: "Other ad publishers must follow suit, rethinking their digital marketing strategies and ways of interacting with consumers. Perhaps, our future web browsing experience will undergo significant changes. The concept of charging per view is scary, but it may become a reality. AdBlocking downloads are increasing at an astonishing rate, while on the other hand, other feasible methods for generating banner ad revenue have yet to emerge. Banner ads may be somewhat annoying, but blocking these ads may ultimately force websites to adopt more costly measures, which consumers do not wish to see." (kirk)