Facebook has started tobypass the popular ad blockers that Internet users use. The social network has redesigned the way it shows advertisements on its site and applications. In a detailed blog post Andrew Bosworth, the managing VP of ads explains their strategy further. Users will be given the option to select what kind of ad content will be shown.
A new Direction
Facebook now allows their users to choose what kind of advertisements will be shown according to their interests. This is a good approach as it gives control to the users – they can make a legitimate and informed choice of what kind of content they want to see. A dedicated research team has carefully traced down what users perceive as “bad ads” – advertisements that obscure the content, slow down web page loading times or irrelevant ones that often distract the reader.
The social network has made optimizations to their ad platform in terms of speed and performance. Facebook wants to encourage its users to think of its policies on ads as an acceptable alternative. Many websites that have based their economic model on selling banners and showing ads have used more strict ways of enforcing paid content. The social network also states that people who use ad blocking software will begin to see ads.
Criticism of Facebook’s Move
The new strategy means that Facebook will use complex techniques in order to overcome the protection offered by ad block programs that are popular among Internet users. Adblock Plus themselves have stated that:
“It’s hard to imagine Facebook or the brands that are being advertised on its site getting any sort of value for their ad dollar here: publishers (like Facebook) alienate their audience and advertisers (the brands) allow their cherished brand name to be shoved down people’s throats.”
The most common negative reaction is attributed to the fact that sharing personal preferences about advertising preferences will give the social network even more insight into the personal lives of its users. Facebook have not stated which ad blocker programs will be bypassed nor it has revealed the mechanisms that it uses.
