Where Has All the Money Gone? Here's One Explanation

Discussion in 'AdSense' started by Surf_Dude, Jan 31, 2010.

  1. #1
    Adblock Plus is robbing you blind!

    I got bored, as I often do, so I decided to look at the Add-ons available for Firefox here -
    https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/recommended

    One thing jumped right out at me - AdblockPlus is by far the most downloaded Add-on, running at over 916,000 downloads PER WEEK!

    Approx. population of the US - 300 million
    Approx. number of browser users in the US - 100 million (est.)
    FF share of browser market - 20%
    Approx. number of FF users in US - 20 million

    With almost 1 million downloads per week of Adblock Plus, that means that a whopping 5% of all US FF users are BLOCKING AdSense ads EVERY WEEK! This is a HUGE number!

    According to these numbers, EVERY SINGLE US FF user will have blocked their ads, in just 20 weeks, which would mean NO ADSENSE INCOME from Firefox. My numbers might be off a little, but I'm sure you can get the picture.

    This is bad news.

    Sooo, thank G0d for Internet Explorer? I never thought that I would ever be saying that!
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    Surf_Dude, Jan 31, 2010 IP
  2. powerlifer

    powerlifer Active Member

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    #2
    wow this is bad news, does anyone know if it actually blocks adsense ads or just the other type that tend to be more invasive?

    cheers
     
    powerlifer, Jan 31, 2010 IP
  3. Surf_Dude

    Surf_Dude Peon

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    #3
    I think it blocks all ads implemented in javascript.
    Is that correct?

    By the way, the total Adblock Plus downloads to date are 69,583,755, as listed here -
    https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/1865
    Read the comments - in general, users love it.

    "Right-click on a banner and choose "Adblock" from the context menu - the banner won't be downloaded again. Maybe even replace parts of the banner address with star symbols to block similar banners as well. Or you select a filter subscription when Adblock Plus starts up the first time, then even this simple task will usually be unnecessary: the filter subscription will block most advertisements fully automatically. "
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    Last edited: Jan 31, 2010
    Surf_Dude, Jan 31, 2010 IP
  4. Helado

    Helado Peon

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    #4
    Hmm not good. I think if it reaches the point where most FF users have adblock then Google will do something about it... change the coding or something... because it'll cost them too.
     
    Helado, Jan 31, 2010 IP
  5. mbfootball47

    mbfootball47 Well-Known Member

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    #5
    I use and love AdblockPlus but it does block adsense ads along with more invasive ads like popups.
     
    mbfootball47, Jan 31, 2010 IP
  6. SmallPotatoes

    SmallPotatoes Peon

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    #6
    Ah, the joys of linear extrapolation.

    It gets even worse than that. Much worse.

    Assuming your numbers are correct, one in 15 people in the USA is a Firefox user. At a rate of 1 million downloads per week, by the end of the year, 50 million people will have downloaded it, which means the population of the USA will have MORE THAN DOUBLED to 750 million by December 2010. This will lead to food rationing, housing shortages, and widespread civil unrest.

    If we don't stop Adblock Plus now, the country is doomed. Doomed, I say.

    Oh, no, I don't think so. Nor your grasp of statistics.

    Meanwhile, my Adsense revenue is growing by over 10% a month on existing sites that I barely put any effort into. And the people who install Adblock are the same people who wouldn't click ads anyway. Rejoice in the fact that they're keeping your CTR up by opting not to see the ads.
     
    SmallPotatoes, Jan 31, 2010 IP
  7. Surf_Dude

    Surf_Dude Peon

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    #7
    Ha-ha. Great stuff, small potatoes.
    Change the numbers to anything you want - my point remains the same - it's BIG. Unless you don't think so.

    My Adsense earnings have been doing very well also, so I concur with you there.

    I still wonder just how much better AdSense earnings might be, were there no Adblock Plus . . .

    That sounds right. Or maybe they just hate the concept more than the actual ads. As in, get rid of something, just because you can.
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    Last edited: Jan 31, 2010
    Surf_Dude, Jan 31, 2010 IP
  8. coolerchoice

    coolerchoice Active Member

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    #8
    there are people working on a solution for this,basically its a line of script that puts a message" disable adblock to view this site" they are still in progress of finishing script but its on its way, it will not solve the adblock problem but will make users disable it if they want to view your site good idea i thought
     
    coolerchoice, Jan 31, 2010 IP
  9. cosminx2003

    cosminx2003 Active Member

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    #9
    C'mon man, i don't think a FF plugin will beat Google :), if you make a quick search on google about this problem, you can notice others asked the same question 1 year ago, and nothing happened.. and as someone said above the traffic and adsense earnings on my websites are increasing for me too.
     
    cosminx2003, Jan 31, 2010 IP
  10. QuackWare

    QuackWare Member

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    #10
    I use adblock plus and love it. I do know of some ways where you can detect if someone is using adblock plus and disable the site unless they turn it off, but that might drive away some loyal readers.
     
    QuackWare, Jan 31, 2010 IP
  11. Surf_Dude

    Surf_Dude Peon

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    #11
    cosminx2003 -
    I remember some of that stuff from back when.
    Are you SURE? How can we measure what didn't happen? (no impressions, no clicks)

    Yeah, that starts to get tricky - due to my nature, I would probably just bolt, via the back button. Hey, Google gives me lots of other choices - why suffer coercion (allow yourself to be slapped around).
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    Last edited: Jan 31, 2010
    Surf_Dude, Jan 31, 2010 IP
  12. TheVccMatey

    TheVccMatey Peon

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    #12
    I wouldn't worry about this problem too much, they will find a way around this.
     
    TheVccMatey, Jan 31, 2010 IP
  13. Surf_Dude

    Surf_Dude Peon

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    #13
    I think it's called Chrome. Maybe Adblock Plus (and the like) is a big reason why Google is pushing Chrome development so hard.

    Funny, but I don't foresee any Chrome ad blockers. They would constitute antimatter to G.
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    Surf_Dude, Jan 31, 2010 IP
  14. TheVccMatey

    TheVccMatey Peon

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    #14
    Good point.. :( Now you're getting me worried :D
     
    TheVccMatey, Jan 31, 2010 IP
  15. Ryan6

    Ryan6 Peon

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    #15
    That add-on is the only thing that spoils a fantastic browser. Mozilla actually personally recommend it as well!

    Someone needs to develop a script that blocks the ad blockers. The excuse that they wouldn't be clicking on ads anyway is useless, because some webmasters use CPM ads over CPC.

    The cheapskate bastards!:D
     
    Ryan6, Jan 31, 2010 IP
  16. joebert

    joebert Well-Known Member

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    #16
    Most of the people who use adblock extensions like that are the same people who always get viruses and have to reformat their computer once a month. A lot of those downloads are going to be the same people downloading it over and over.

    If you look at the filter rule files Adblockplus uses, it appears to determine whether there's an ad or not using parts of the URL. I haven't looked too far into the Adblockplus source code (you can open the xpi and the contained jar just like a zip file), but it would appear that it monitors outgoing requests for resources and blocks those requests if the URL being fetched matches one of the filter patterns.
     
    joebert, Jan 31, 2010 IP
  17. DustinX

    DustinX Peon

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    #17
    Wow, great news :rolleyes: Whatever, I'm personally sick of dealing with google anyway:D .. e-commerce ftw :D
     
    DustinX, Jan 31, 2010 IP
  18. dpmaster72

    dpmaster72 Peon

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    #18
    I just installed the Adblock and was visiting some of my own websites and it did not block the ads in it. Why does not it apply the rules to all websites ?
     
    dpmaster72, Jan 31, 2010 IP
  19. dpmaster72

    dpmaster72 Peon

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    #19
    I did notices that surfing on DP forum is much cleaner after I installed Adblock.
     
    dpmaster72, Jan 31, 2010 IP
  20. Adrianwart

    Adrianwart Guest

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    #20
    Unfortunately, now Chrome already has an adblocks extension too...
    Bad for us :mad:
     
    Adrianwart, Jan 31, 2010 IP