Yesterday’s announcement that the company behind popular ad-blocking browser extension Adblock Plus started its own ad network wasn’t all that surprising in hindsight: the company had been selling the right to show some users unobtrusive ads to publishers for five years. The news did take two companies that Adblock Plus claimed would be its partners in the ad exchange by surprise: ad companies AppNexus and Google. [More]
online ads
Google Hates Those Fake “Download” Buttons As Much As You Do, Will Now Block Sites Using Them
By 2.5.16
There is a certain kind of site out there that manages to exist through trickery. You go to it, looking for a specific file to download, and there’s a Big! Green! Button! that says “DOWNLOAD” on it in large, friendly letters… except, that’s not the download button you were looking for. The link you were looking for is actually one mostly-hidden line of text. The thing you’ve clicked was actually an ad, and now it’s redirected you and your computer is installing god-knows-what. Oops. [More]
Online Ad Industry Admits “We Messed Up” With Too Many Invasive Ads
By 10.15.15
As ad-blocking plugins become increasingly popular, the online ad industry is realizing that maybe it shouldn’t have helped to create an environment where ads bog down, interrupt, annoy, and track users. [More]
Google Chrome Will Block Flash Ads, Auto-Playing Videos Starting Sept. 1
By 8.28.15
If you hate the blast of noise and music that hits your ears every time an auto-playing video unexpectedly goes off on a web page you’ve just opened, rejoice: Google Chrome will be blocking all Adobe Flash content deemed not central to a web page starting Sept. 1. [More]
This Christmas, Fend Off Bad Guys Disguised As Santa With Your New TASER
By 12.6.13
If we posted every ridiculous or terrible ad that popped up on Facebook, we’d have no pixels left to post anything else. But Patrick encountered this ad for TASER flashlights that is simultaneously strange and scaremongering, and features a balaclava-clad man in a Santa hat meant to scare Facebookers into ordering a handy stun gun flashlight. [More]
Everyone Hates Bots: They’re To Blame For $1.5 Billion In Wasted Advertising Spending
By 10.1.12
How annoying is it when you see that you’ve got a new Twitter follower or a reply (“I bet someone loved that last clever bon mot I sent into the Internetz!”) only to have it turn out to be a bot telling you to click on some link to get new followers? It stinks, and I’m pretty sure no one likes bots. Especially not online advertisers, who reportedly lose around $1.5 billion every year in ad spending because of such software bots. [More]
This Item Is 20% Off Only Online At Target: Not Available Online
By 7.29.11
Oh, Target. We hadn’t received any stories about your tenuous grip on reality in a while, an thought that perhaps things were getting better. Then you advertised an item as being simultaneously on ale online only, but also available only in stores. What? [More]
Google Sets Aside $500 Million For Ad Settlement
By 5.11.11
Preparing to settle a Department of Justice investigation of “use of Google advertising by certain advertisers,” Google has set aside $500 million to make the investigation go away. [More]
Amazon's Kindle: Now Brought To You By Buick?
By 4.12.11
If $140 for an Amazon Kindle e-reader is still too rich for your blood, the online book-seller is starting to take pre-orders for a new $113 “Kindle with Special Offers.” What makes it cheaper (and “special”)? The new e-reader will display advertisements on the Kindle’s screensaver and at the bottom of the home page. [More]
EA's Advertisement Is A Tad Misleading
By 11.10.09
Seth sent us this screengrab of an ad he found on Fark in which Electronic Arts is offering games for less than $20. Problem is, none of the games pictured — The Sims 3, Need for Speed Shift and FIFA 10, hot, recently-released games all — can be had for any cheaper than $40 at the EA Store or any other retail venue other than the back of some guy’s van.
How To Opt Out Of Google's New Targeted Ads
By 3.16.09
Last week, Google introduced its new “interest based” ads, which is based on tracking your browsing activity and targeting ads based on that behavior. Fortunately, there are several ways to opt out.
Hit the Monkey and Win a PSP
By 3.30.06
Gizmodo IM’d us an online offer to analyze and we chatted. Because we’re the Gawker Media Network and we never stop being excruciatingly witty for you.
