Questionable strategy: Mobile sites that thwart ad blockers
In the world of online publishing, there are two enemies that must be respected: the unsubscribe button and the ad blocker. Although both can be circumvented or ignored, how wise is it to thwart the stated intentions and desires of your visitors?
On the other hand, is it bad if visitors don't notice or seem to care? It's a tricky question, and one company is getting clever in how it deploys what amount to mobile site ad-blocker countermeasures.
The company, Instart Logic, last week touted some $30 million in new funding, some of it directed toward supporting its ad-blocker blocker. To Instart Logic, it's all about delivering what it would argue is the optimal visitor experience — which means ads even for those who say they don’t want them.