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Senator asks FTC to investigate questionable ad blocking practices (updated)
You're not the only one concerned that ad blocking companies may have taken customers for a ride by whitelisting advertisers willing to pay. Senator Ron Wyden has sent a letter to the FTC asking the regulator to investigate ad blocking companies over "unfair, deceptive and anti-competitive" practices, including implementing whitelists without giving users a choice. When AdBlock was sold to an unnamed buyer and joined Adblock Plus' Acceptable Ads whitelist program, it "likely" broke federal law by automatically changing privacy terms without obtaining the necessary explicit permission.
Adblock Plus creator hopes blockchain will help spot fake news
The creators of Adblock Plus, eyeo, have an uncommon solution to the fake news scourge: rely on one of the tech industry's biggest buzzwords. They've introduced a beta Chrome extension, Trusted News, that will use blockchain to help you verify whether a site is trustworthy. It's initially using four established fact sites (PolitiFact, Snopes, Wikipedia and Zimdars' List), but the eventual plan is to decentralize the database with the Ethereum blockchain and use game-like token mechanics to reward everyday users for submitting feedback while protecting against trolls. If enough people think a site is getting a bad rap, eyeo could change the product to provide a better perspective.
Adblock Plus' ad network is off to a rough start
When Adblock Plus unveiled its own ad network in a bid to make money from toned-down ads, it raised more than a few eyebrows... including those of its supposed ad partners. While the company said that its Acceptable Ads Platform would supply ads from Google and AppNexus, it turns out that it was merely relying on a go-between company (ComboTag) to get those ads. It hadn't asked the underlying ad providers about a deal -- and now, they want out. Both Google and AppNexus are ending their associations with ComboTag, leaving Adblock Plus without much of a leg to stand on.
AdBlock Plus wants to help you pay the sites you visit most
With hundreds of millions of internet users choosing to block ads, publishers are being forced to adopt new strategies to survive. Paywalls are one option, but they often put off readers who wish to visit a website just to read one article. As companies scramble to provide a middle ground between subscriptions and pay-per-story services, an unlikely new challenger has emerged: AdBlock Plus. Known for its browser apps and extensions, the service has teamed up with micro-transaction specialist Flattr to let people pay the publishers they visit most regularly.
