back to article Adblock Plus chalk talk takes stock: Facebook's gonna block our block of their block of our block? Let's rock

The developers of the banner-busting Adblock Plus (ABP) browser plugin say they will continue efforts to shield Facebook users from the social network's sponsored content. ABP head of communications Ben Williams said that while Facebook can currently serve the ads to users running the plugin, developers are working to re-block …

  1. JimmyPage Silver badge
    Stop

    Facebook may stop being a site ...

    And only be available via their app. Their app. Their rules ...

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Facebook may stop being a site ...

      I'd be delighted if the Facebook tumour excised itself from the web.

      Then the web can go back to being about interconnected resources.

    2. Gene Cash Silver badge
      Go

      Re: Facebook may stop being a site ...

      That would make my DECADE. Then people might get real websites instead of a FB page.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Facebook may stop being a site ...

        They wouldn't have to stop being a site, but they could just make it essentially run a Javascript app so there wouldn't be any way to block the ads. Well, I guess you could filter stuff in your router, but the percentage of people who would bother are so small they don't concern Facebook.

  2. brotherelf
    Trollface

    Williams makes an interesting point,

    but how exactly would FB be journalism? (I know that it's an eternal twisting of words the way one wants to see them, being just a platform for UGC – or even better, an internet provider – for purposes of copyright screening, or maybe not when it comes to LEO tapping interfaces, or being press if it helps claim First Amendment rights, but not when it comes to liability and due diligence, or being a broadcaster but not if that means needing a license… you get the picture.)

    1. Richard 12 Silver badge

      Re: Williams makes an interesting point,

      FB themselves claim to be an outlet for journalism.

      So it doesn't really matter whether anyone else agrees, if they say they're a journalism outlet then they self-evidently must comply with those rules.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Williams makes an interesting point,

        Basically FB want to say to journalists/new-sites "N% of intent users come to FB and don't look at anything else so if you want anyone to read want you produce then here are our terms ... please sign on the bottom line and we'll pick up all the incone"

      2. PNGuinn
        Flame

        Re: Williams makes an interesting point,

        "FB themselves claim to be an outlet for journalism."

        My a**e is an outlet for ...... Zuk's point is?

        At least my "output" can be dried and used for fuel. >>

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Williams makes an interesting point,

          You dont even have to dry it. Just simply place in a paper bag, set alight and place on Zucks doorstep...

          ...along with a flyer for a local shoe shiner. Hey its relevant.

  3. Dwarf

    Fixed it

    I've found a solution.

    Stop visiting farcebook, stop getting the adverts

    Simples.

  4. John Crisp

    And then all we need is for them to remove all the 'Like" beacons and other such trackers, oh and Googly based Capcha, and all will be well with world :-)

    I don't really care whether FB users see ads or not. It's a choice if they want to access a 'free' service.

    Yes I regrettably still have an account - I have a couple of old friends living far away who won't communicate any other way. I rarely use it, but accept if I do I'll probably get splattered with irrelevant crap. Such is life, and is my choice (as a result I rarely use it)

    What's most annoying is their ability to track both users and NON users who visit other sites that are none of FBs goddamn business and link all that together. That should be stopped in its tracks.

    Until they do my shields stay up.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      "Yes I regrettably still have an account - I have a couple of old friends living far away who won't communicate any other way."

      Absolutely, positively no other way at all, you say? Not even SMS or e-mail (since you need an e-mail to join Facebook)?

    2. Gene Cash Silver badge

      > I have a couple of old friends living far away who won't communicate any other way

      Me too. I don't hear from them any more. Shame, that...

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Yes, make "old firends" meand "friends from the old times". I've never had a FB account and if asked I reply that its because I'm not a teenage girl.

        1. 's water music

          who facebook is for

          I've never had a FB account and if asked I reply that its because I'm not a teenage girl

          Shirely facebook is for teenage girls' mums or perhaps grandparents these days? People under thirty only have accounts for their parents/grandparents to follow a sanitised version of their online personas. DKUPATB

  5. Destroy All Monsters Silver badge
    Trollface

    Uh,oh! Fred Hiatt must be quaking in his breeches!

    "An ad is something different, because its intention is not to inform, but to market. For the consumer, knowing the difference is crucial."

    A lot lobbyist, think-tank and CIA-sponsored "content" in the NYT and WaPo is suddenly menaced! This cannot stand!

  6. Leeroy

    Idea

    Ad Block overlay on the top of each Facebook post with a button to say 'this is sponsored or advertising'. The first few hundred click it, report back to ad block then overlay on top a nice white rectangle 'Ad Blocked'.

    I don't use FB and my coding skills are not amazjng it but it may work if some clever people get on it :)

    1. Charles 9

      Re: Idea

      The ads will be unique to each visit and the page dynamically constructed each time it's rendered. This creates a Whack-A-Mole situation, so this approach won't work. Plus, as noted, FB can make the ad indicators harder for robots to spot such as by making the ad tag an image file.

  7. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    A block party?

    I bet No.27 is going to play fucking dubstep at ear-bleeding volume again.

  8. jason 7

    Facebook is the biggest troll...

    ...just stop feeding it.

  9. Mark 85

    Word from various friends and relatives who use FB and AdBlock are reporting serious loading issues. FB goes to a crawl with lots of script timeouts. I can't and won't verify as I don't use FB.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re going to a crawl, perhaps this will be a factor in the demise of excessive advertising, see http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-37100091 for the issues concerning retailers websites and loading speeds. In addition there appears to be a movement away from social media, especially by parents concerned at the negative aspects of these sites, and the potential harm to their children.

      1. Charles 9

        But what about among those who are already of adult age?

  10. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    I literally don't see the problem

    I don't use FB.

  11. Insane Reindeer

    Not in the least bit surprised...

    ... By all the most popular comments on this thread (as of 05:26 GMT, Friday 19/08/2046).

    What I am surprised about is the fact that no one has mentioned the long held belief that Facebook need to man up and offer a paid for service that allows no adverts to be placed anywhere on the page, allows unrestricted access to all their services and options. Meanwhile the free Facebook places an advert after every other post, allows a maximum of 100 connections (including liked pages, people followed, friends etc).

    Why does everything have to be free on the internet anyway?

    (Downvote away folks! Happy Friday you grumpy sods!)

    1. Reinhard Schu
      Thumb Up

      Re: Not in the least bit surprised...

      I totally agree. I never understood this whole ad supported business model. Who actually clicks on these ads or "sponsored articles"? I surely never do. In my view, the ad supported business model is not sustainable, people will grow tired of the clickbait "sponsored posts".

      The correct, long term sustainable business model is to have free basic, ad supported service, and a paid-for, ad free premium service. With FB's massive user base, the premium subscription price could be in the single or low double digits per year. The premium subscriptions would provide a steady, predictable revenue stream.

      1. Can't think of anything witty...

        Re: Not in the least bit surprised...

        it's a problems of their own making.

        From the front page of Facebook:

        "It's free and always will be"

        That is just incorrect. It is paid for by allowing adverts into your feed. you may not pay cash to them, but you are still trading something of value to them (time on your screen) for something of value to you (the content of a facebook feed).

      2. Neil Barnes Silver badge

        Re: Not in the least bit surprised...

        It's not an ad-supported business model. It's an ad-selling business model. The social networky bits are merely the mechanism Zuckerberg has chosen to get rich. It's no different from soap companies making TV soap opera in the forties and fifties.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Not in the least bit surprised...

      Indeed.

      I never knew there were so many snobby, self-rightous freetards in "the Reg." audience.

  12. MartinB105

    F.B. Purity does a great job of making Facebook more tolerable

    If you must use Facebook, then the browser extension F.B. Purity does a very good job of turning it into a more tolerable experience. In addition to blocking ads, suggested posts and sponsored posts (which is still working perfectly as of right now), it has numerous other useful features that help to filter out crap from your News Feed and enhance and/or simplify the Facebook user interface. It also offers additional functionality like friend tracking, so you can get a notification when someone unfriends you.

    http://www.fbpurity.com/

    Another similar option is Social Fixer, but it's been somewhat gimped after they gave in to legal threats from Facebook a while ago and removed some of the features. I haven't used this one for a while, but it might still be useful.

    http://socialfixer.com/

    1. Charles 9

      Re: F.B. Purity does a great job of making Facebook more tolerable

      "If you must use Facebook, then the browser extension F.B. Purity does a very good job of turning it into a more tolerable experience. In addition to blocking ads, suggested posts and sponsored posts (which is still working perfectly as of right now)..."

      With no false positives, either? I wonder how much longer this is going to last as FB keeps trying to make its ads harder to block.

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