Why Firefox is Blocked.

Recently, some folks have taken it on themselves to block Firefox users, directing them a page titled, Why is Firefox blocked? The reason, of course, is that Firefox allows the use of Adblock, an extension that allows users to block advertisements of all types (images, Flash, etc.). And, since Firefox does not reveal who is using Adblock, these people have decided that everyone using Firefox should be disallowed from the use of their sites.

As a Firefox user (along with Opera, Camino, Safari, and IE7), and one who frequents the Internet, I have to wonder what kind of damage is really being done by Adblock. For those using text advertisements, or good graphical ones that do not detract from the overall experience on a given Web site, I am happy to leave the Ads alone (remember, it takes work to remove them). It’s when ads cause me so much displeasure (Punch the monkey!, Win a free iPod*, YOU’RE ALREADY A WINNER!) that I can’t use the site and I take action (I don’t have Adbock, I handle it differently.).

I really feel that this whole endeavor stems from Web sites utilizing a dying business model. Horribly bright ads just don’t cut it on today’s Internet. Don’t get me wrong, I think advertising is one of the best revenue building solutions on the Web now, but you don’t have to be gross about it. While it’s only generating minuscule amounts of cash, the Google Ads at Comics Convergence were considered as the design was built out, making them a design element, not a horrific eye-sore. In my humble opinion, tasteful inclusion of advertisements on today’s free Web sites is the next best step, along with Premium services.

As an aside, there are many, many ways to circumvent this issue. LifeHacker suggests changing your User Agent String and I took 7 seconds to find an Adblocking solution for IE7.

Hopefully, this will all blow over, and we’ll be able to look back on it and compare it to the RIAA’s inability to grasp the next stage of music distribution.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 21st, 2007 at 1:48 am and is filed under Ramblings. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.

  1. matt says:
    August 21, 2007 at 3:04 am

    Holy freaking crap. You know, the world is a safer place for my not knowing how to do real hacky stuff – because sites like this would be dead. What a mean spirited thing to do! And the stupid justifications – Adblock infringes on their rights? I am enraged.

    … oh, and they apparently used FrontPage to make the site.

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