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Adblock Plus bypasses Facebook's attempt to restrict ad blockers (update)
The war between Facebook and ad blockers is heating up. Just two days after the social network announced plans to restrict software that removes its advertising, the popular utility Adblock Plus has already unveiled a workaround. All you need to do is update your Adblock Plus filters to banish those ads once again. Facebook previously said that it didn't pay to be whitelisted by any ad blocking company, instead it changed how its ads are recognized, and also gave users more control over what sorts of ads they see.
O2 CEO says blocking mobile ads isn't 'the answer'
Just a few days after Three announced it was going to block mobile ads at the network level, O2's CEO, Ronan Dunne, has spoken out against the practice. In an interview with Campaign at MWC, Dunne criticized pop-ups and other "intrusive forms of advertising" but added that grand-scale blocking wasn't "the answer." It's a slightly different tune than O2 was humming late last year. Days after EE said it was considering ad blockers on its network, O2's MD of digital commerce made it clear that the carrier was in the advanced stages of assessing the technology itself, and was even testing it with some customers.
UK carrier Three to block ads at the network level
In a landmark move for the UK's wireless industry, Three has inked a deal with Shine that will enable ad-blocking across its network. The decision will, according to Three, give customers "control, choice and greater transparency" over the ads that appear on their devices. It won't, however, eliminate advertising entirely -- just the worst offenders, the pair claim. The controversial technology will be used initially on Three's UK and Italian networks, before a "rapid roll-out" in other markets. The necessary changes have been implemented, however the scheme isn't live just yet -- Three says it'll explain the specifics "over the coming months."
SafariBlock: More powerful ad blocking
Since its inception, Safari has been able to block pesky popup ads from clogging your display, but it's fallen short when it comes to blocking ads on a web page. Firefox, with its open plug-in architecture and enthusiastic community, has enjoyed an AdBlock add-on for some time which allows users to right-click an ad section and forever filter it from that page. But what's a programmer who prefers Safari to do? Why, write a plug-in that brings the same functionality to Apple's browser, of course! SafariBlock from FSB Software (click on SafariBlock in the sidebar; I can't link directly to it) aims to duplicate Firefox's AdBlock features by bringing the same right-click-to-filter functionality to remove ads from your browsing experience. A recent update even brought compatibility for Safari 3 beta users so everyone can give it a whirl.It should be noted, however, that SafariBlock functions as an InputManager. The specifics of what that means aren't really necessary to delve into right now, but as far as I know, the rumor is still that Mac OS X Leopard will remove support for plug-ins that run as InputManagers when it's released (hopefully) in October. What this means for the future of plug-ins like SafariBlock is still unsure, but it seemed worthy of mentioning.
