back to article Aye-aye Eyeo, go safely on your way-o, says German judge

A Munich court ruled on Wednesday (May 27) that there was nothing illegal about the activities of Eyeo, owner of Adblock Plus. For the advert blocking toolmaker, this is the second win in as many months. German broadcasters RTL Interactive and ProSiebenSat1, claimed that users should not be able to block all ads on their …

  1. MMull

    Well, there are alternative solutions to "Adblock Plus", i.e. "Adblock Edge" or "µBlock"

  2. Mark 85

    One would think that if the advertisers were smart, they would clean up their act. Drop the flashing, color changing ads. Drop the large offensive crap that pops up on the page (not a pop-up, just a balloon ad).. If it were up to them, the content would be miniscule and their ads would take up most of the landscape on the monitor. But no, they want to scream, in-your-face, 24/7. They've done this to themselves.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Well, decades of experience tells them the ONLY way to get the attention of a jaded audience (and ad audiences get jaded over time) is to do something that gets their attention. IOW, they're SUPPOSED to blare out at you; otherwise, you ignore them which means they don't get clicked, and while YOU may not click, someone else may, and it only takes ONE hit out of a million to make it all worthwhile.

      IOW, don't think for a minute the admen are stupid. They've been at it far longer than you think.

      1. User McUser
        Flame

        decades of experience tells them the ONLY way to get the attention of a jaded audience [...] is to do something that gets their attention.

        Newspapers have had advertisements for CENTURIES* and none of them had dancing cowboys hawking low mortgage rates, or played loud inappropriate noises, or flashed distractingly at me while I'm trying to read.

        Mostly it's the last one (animated ads) that irritate me. I have a low tolerance for motion in my peripheral vision and it is *really* fucking distracting to have animated ads jiggling and slide-scrolling over and over and over.

        *Since 1704, apparently. Source: http://adage.com/article/special-report-the-advertising-century/ad-age-advertising-century-timeline/143661/

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          "Newspapers have had advertisements for CENTURIES* and none of them had dancing cowboys hawking low mortgage rates, or played loud inappropriate noises, or flashed distractingly at me while I'm trying to read."

          Then you've probably never seen a two-page color spread splitting the story you're trying to read. That's their closest analog to the blaring video ad.

          1. Captain DaFt

            "Then you've probably never seen a two-page color spread splitting the story you're trying to read. That's their closest analog to the blaring video ad."

            And that and other practices like splitting a story over several pages, with a couple of column inches on each page to get more eyeballs on the ads, has probably contributed more to the decline of newspapers and magazines than any other factor.

            (It's not unusual these days for a 52 page magazine to have less than 16 pages of actual content, the rest is advertising. Most newspapers have a similarly one sided ad/content ratio.)

          2. Doctor Syntax Silver badge

            The two page colour spread can be easily flicked over. The jiggling animated gif not so ... oh, of course it can; just install Adblock. And it was exactly such an ad on Streetmap that drove me to installing Adblock.

        2. MJI Silver badge

          Animation

          I am really messed up by that, so much so that I cannot watch any TV channel with an animated logo

      2. Doctor Syntax Silver badge

        @A/C

        Yes, that may be the way to get attention. But for many of us that attention simply results in hate for whatever-it-is they're plugging. That one hit out of a million isn't worthwhile if the other potential or actual 99 customers are sufficiently pissed off to decide they'll never touch whatever-it-is again in their lives. It's actually to the benefit of the vendors of whatever-it-is that the ads get blocked.

        The real success of admen is in selling themselves to their clients.

        1. Charles 9

          "Yes, that may be the way to get attention. But for many of us that attention simply results in hate for whatever-it-is they're plugging. That one hit out of a million isn't worthwhile if the other potential or actual 99 customers are sufficiently pissed off to decide they'll never touch whatever-it-is again in their lives. It's actually to the benefit of the vendors of whatever-it-is that the ads get blocked."

          They'd consider YOU nonconvertible and safe to ignore. The ONE they snag is more than enough for them, even if they never hear from you again. That's how advertising works. Millions of ignores just to get that ONE hit that makes it all worthwhile. And to draw on P. T. Barnum, there WILL be that ONE somewhere.

          1. Doctor Syntax Silver badge

            "They'd consider YOU nonconvertible and safe to ignore."

            It's not just hit vs ignore. If I'm looking for, say, car insurance the fact then initially I'll consider any insurer unless it has a bad reputation. But if some particular company has been throwing annoying ads at me I'll strike it off the list of possibles. What's more, if it's my current insurer I'll take my business elsewhere next time renewal comes round. I have changed various suppliers for letter-box litter, spam or whatever.

            Recent example: I bought a new car about 18 months ago. I'd scarcely got it home when the dealer started text spam. Did they think I'd be trading it in already? My wife's car will be replaced before next winter but that's one dealer I won't be looking at. In their eagerness to sling advertising at me they've lost a possible sale.

            So there's a potential negative effect and advertisers have no measure of it at all. They can measure the positive response but they have no way of knowing what the net effect it and yet it's the net effect that determines profit and loss.

            As I said, the real success of admen is advertising themselves to their customers.

      3. msknight

        ...and who, exactly, is responsible for the viewers being jaded about internet adverts? Would it be, perchance, the very people who are so fed up with the flashing, moving, pop-up-over-under-between-with-no-way-to-remove-it crap which auto-runs and blares audio over the office with no way to stop it except for trying to rip the loudspeakers out of your laptop ... eh?

        It's their stupidity that's made ME jaded and not want to see their adverts. I mean, I live in the sticks and even PayPal's and Jolla's legitimate animated backgrounds on their own web sited make me want to hurl the PC out the window. When advertisers do it, with no heed to compression, and start chewing up the bandwidth that I pay for ... they can go fuck themselves.

        Hoorah AdBlocker Edge, which is on every device I can get it on to.

        1. msknight

          I got that a bit wrong, didn't I, claiming the people responsible for the people being jaded, were the people who were, themselves, jaded. Proves I need more coffee before starting to type on the internet. I'm dangerous with a keyboard...

    2. Gene Cash Silver badge

      It's not just ugly annoying ads. It's also:

      * the bandwidth they take on my mobile device

      * the dozens of ad sites exacerbated by slow DNS on many local ISPs which makes the page take forever to load.

      * the pwned adware sites that start serving up malware

      Plus I'm just tired of getting screwed by ads. My TV shows are now 20% shorter due to ads. They chop up repeats of older shows and BBC America to shove in more ads. I bought XM Radio, PAYING FOR RADIO on the condition I no longer had to listen to dozens of ads. Guess what? It's now got ads! So in addition to dropping TV and dropping radio, I now use adblock, even on twitter.

      For the webcomics artists where I block ads, I've started using Patreon to send them some bucks because there's only so many t-shirts you can buy.

    3. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      smarter than you think

      >One would think that if the advertisers were smart

      One of them would parade as a tech company and be one of the largest companies on Earth steering the most popular smart phone OS in the world as well as harvesting the queries and controlling the results of the most commonly used web search in the western world. Oh and they would also get a big portion of the population to give their emails as well as their physical locations willingly to them. Now if only people would post stuff about their life, friends and family on their complete joke of a social site. No worries there's another ad company for that.

  3. Michael Habel

    German RTL need to die, and take ProSieben out with 'em These are the same Arseclowns that gave the World this thing we call HD+ Where you have to pay them 60€'s a Year to watch gloriously shot Ads of Dish Washing Soap in HD. While the rest of their sh--y programing is just a lame half-assed attempt at upscaling their shoddy SD Content. And, the kicker is you have to use their Common Interface+ System WHICH EXPLICLTLY FORBIDS YOU TO RECORD ANYTHING... And for the stuff it does... Will cockblock you from fast forwarding though the the commercials.

    So I'm not even surprised they took ABP to Court over this. I'm just pleased that they lost!

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    According to Eyeo, AdBlock Plus is used on 50 million devices

    But they fail to see why....

    Fucking adverts pervading every moment of waking existence......

    Hour long tv program? No, 40 minutes long, rest is adverts.

    Local radio? Ditto.

    Internet?? Fucking full of em.

    Sick of em. Thank god for adblock et al....

    Whilst ever they keep coming I will find a way to ignore / block em. By fair means or foul.....

    1. Charles 9

      Re: According to Eyeo, AdBlock Plus is used on 50 million devices

      The Admen will just find ways to get around AdBlock. Even without paying for the whitelist treatment, they'll probably start using ad-blocker-blockers that deny you access if you have it or anything like it like NoScript on. And before you say, "I'll just go somewhere else," suppose the site has exclusive content you need or ALL the sites with the stuff do the same thing, forcing you into a Take It or Leave It situation (submit to the nauseating ads or go without that important file you need like an obscure driver)?

      1. Grikath

        Re: According to Eyeo, AdBlock Plus is used on 50 million devices

        nah the admen will insure that obscure driver will only be deployable by an installer that will silently co-install "helpful" tools with convoluted routes to the mandatory opt-out menus..

        or that can only be downloaded by first dowloading their dowload client which...etc...

        No need for ads there.

      2. Michael Habel

        Re: According to Eyeo, AdBlock Plus is used on 50 million devices

        The Admen will just find ways to get around AdBlock. Even without paying for the whitelist treatment, they'll probably start using ad-blocker-blockers that deny you access if you have it or anything like it like NoScript on. And before you say, "I'll just go somewhere else," suppose the site has exclusive content you need or ALL the sites with the stuff do the same thing, forcing you into a Take It or Leave It situation (submit to the nauseating ads or go without that important file you need like an obscure driver)?

        Then I'd have to find a different source of Information then... RTL could make a bag of Hammers look more intelligent then then the dimwits that run it. But, then perhaps I'm not qualified to render such judgments as I care NOT A JOT about Reality TV or its side dish of 1-900 Dial in Talentless Hack Shows. The only reason I even still use my Basic Cable is just to watch a bit of the 24h News Channels to stay informed of current events. So my opinion should probably be discounted.

        Otherwise I use Kodi (formerly known as XBMC), to do my TV Watching on an On Demand Bases. So I don't deride the idea of the Internet killing the likes of these goons here in Europe. The States might well be a different place... Since they pretty much create all the Content. But, I'd be damed to find just One redeeming quality for RTL & ProSeiben. These could fall into the abyss tomorrow, and I wouldn't even know that they were gone.

      3. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: According to Eyeo, AdBlock Plus is used on 50 million devices

        submit to the nauseating ads or go without that important file you need like an obscure driver

        Thankfully, the git protocol doesn't support ads and that's how I get my drivers.

      4. Pomgolian
        Paris Hilton

        Re: According to Eyeo, AdBlock Plus is used on 50 million devices

        c:\windows\system32\drivers\etc\hosts

        127.0.0.1 doubleclick.net

        127.0.0.1 googleadservices.com

        ...

        rinse and repeat

        1. Mark 85
          Alert

          @Pomgolian Re: According to Eyeo, AdBlock Plus is used on 50 million devices

          Save yourself a lot of trouble and sorting it all out... try this: http://someonewhocares.org/hosts/

          Seems to work like a charm and it's updated regularly.

  5. tim 31

    CAN WE HAVE ADBLOCK FOR TELEVISION

    1. Michael Habel

      Re: CAN WE HAVE ADBLOCK FOR TELEVISION

      Nope RTL... Along with a begrudged (if you believed 'em) ProSieben.Sat1 Gruppe made damned sure that YOU COULD NEVER block the Ads ever with their Common Interface Plus System Which also has a mandatory anual fee of 60€ just so you can watch there Tat in upscaled HD...

      This thing is PURE EVIL it will prevent you from using most DVR Functions by not even allowing you to record anything. The few things it will let you record will prevent you from trying to skip though the Ads. And, yet the Sheeple are stupid enough to deal with this.... ~shakes head!~

      I'd say you'd have to be retarded to even bother watching that sh-- But, I'd be damned if I'll be further insulted by having to actually pay for that privilege as well...

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: CAN WE HAVE ADBLOCK FOR TELEVISION

        >CAN WE HAVE ADBLOCK FOR TELEVISION

        Yeah its called Netflix, its legal and its only like 10 bucks a month (think they have it over in the UK now too if I remember right).

      2. Joseph Eoff

        Re: CAN WE HAVE ADBLOCK FOR TELEVISION

        One more reason to stick with SD televison. I can record anything I like and fast forward past the ads to my heart's content.

        I mean, really. What does HD do for you? Nada. Shit in high definition is still shit.

        1. MJI Silver badge

          Re: CAN WE HAVE ADBLOCK FOR TELEVISION

          HD with no ads is quite good, but the lack of programmes is annoying.

          Top Gear gone.

          Atlantis gone

          Just too many Eastender episodes now.

    2. phil dude
      Boffin

      here you are...

      1. Google: Bitorrent or "$TVSHOW streaming".

      2. Make sure you have the browser condoms securely in place. Better still have a "friend" do it.

      3. click away.

      Not an endorsement, but an educational project.

      P.

      1. Michael Habel

        Re: here you are...

        Better yet... Go on Fleabay search for MXIII (Or other like Android TV Box), that comes with Kodi Pre-installed... And Bobs your Uncles Sister... Or something...

    3. Fair Dinkum

      Lovely thought, huh? I'm a tinkerer, and it's something I intend to build this year, based on existing IR remote projects. Preset a certain time, ad starts, hit a large "sod off" button, and it goes gradually down to silent (just sent voumel down IR code), and after the time intervall, turns the sound back on.

      It'll help, somewhat.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Hmm, overkill somewhat considering that:

        A: Adverts slots do not run at predetermined times or lenghts,

        B: You have a mute button on your existing remote.

        Several DIY attempts have failed. The best one was a system that picked up the hidden signal that signalled the onset of a commercial break. Sadly, that seems to have vanished into the ether.

    4. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Already there, it's called Bit Torrent.

      Or if you want to automate it a bit, SickBeard + SABNZBd + Plex. You tell SickBeard what you want to watch, it tells SAB to download it and tells Plex where it is when it arrives.

  6. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    abp bah

    Legal perhaps but smart to use, not so much (see link). Privoxy is much leaner and you won't have to worry about these types of bribery shenanigans.

    https://blog.mozilla.org/nnethercote/2014/05/14/adblock-pluss-effect-on-firefoxs-memory-usage/

  7. J.Smith

    You can mute the TV for 5/6/7 mins every ad break, and turn it into a nice quiet 'me time'. I find that helps.

    1. Doctor Syntax Silver badge

      No need for mute. These days practically anything I watch is watched via MythTV. Just hit fast forward a few times & go through at x10. Muting is just a by-product.

  8. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Applause

    I applaud the Register for even covering this story, considering the visual pollution you are assaulted with if you visit this page without ABP!

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Applause

      You don't need AdBlock Plus, just NoScript alone does a pretty good job.

  9. MJI Silver badge

    It is the advertisers fault

    TV ads used to be have some good ones, eg Boy & Bicycle, but of course lots of dross, so I FF the adverts stopping to look at good ones. Sorry but if I see some SciFi soldiers attacking aliens on the moon I am going to watch it.

    Now to the internet, I never used to block adverts, never bothered me, then they invented pop up adverts, I discovered HOSTS, they use more domains, so ABP gets installed.

    Plain banners, do not bother me, side bars, animation, noise, popup, large, just fxxk off

    As soon as they abandoned banners I abandoned adverts

    1. Charles 9

      Re: It is the advertisers fault

      So what happens when you try to block an ad and find that blocks the actual content as well?

      1. MJI Silver badge

        Re: It is the advertisers fault

        Find an alternate source

        1. Charles 9

          Re: It is the advertisers fault

          And if none exists (trust me, I speak from experience)?

          1. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: It is the advertisers fault

            > And if none exists (trust me, I speak from experience)?

            Specific instances, please?

            1. Charles 9

              Re: It is the advertisers fault

              I've been trying to find a specific episode of a TV show. It's no longer on the air. It's not on disc. It's not available through any download sites, black or gray. No torrents, no P2P sources. The ONLY sources I've found CHARGE for the privilege, and they're ALL DRM'd. So far, I've resisted the temptation and have simply gone without for now because I won't take it with strings attached, but it highlights the fact that, for some people, it really is a Take It Or Leave It proposition.

  10. dan1980

    The problem for the advertisers/websites is that the horse has bolted. The gate wasn't left unlocked but they kept hitting the bloody thing, so it got fed up and jumped the fence.

    Perhaps that metaphor was stretched slightly too far but it is relatively accurate. Most people do understand that advertising is essential to the provision of content in many situations and they not only understand but accept it and are sympathetic to it.

    However, the advertising and 'content' industries have been taking the Mickey for way too long and people are just fed up.

    With Internet-delivered content, providers and advertisers (sometimes one and the same) have a medium that allows them unprecedented ability to track consumers and hoover up their personal information. They can known where they are and what browser they are using and what content they view and when they view it. They can track this and record it and collate it and sell it off if they please.

    This is something that was never available with 'traditional', offline media - newspapers, magazines, TV shows, DVDs, CDs, books - the publishers never knew which articles you read in the Economist any more than record labels knew which tracks you listened to most, or film studios knew which movies were gathering dust at the back of the shelf. Advertisers didn't know if you changed channel during the breaks, nor did they have any 'insight' into whether you decided to order their new and revolutionary mop because you saw it in the newspaper or on TV or had your interest piqued by the flyer they left in your mailbox.

    That's because, with HTTP, the data is not broadcasted out but REQUESTED by the user's computer and then rendered by their browser. Thus, a record can be kept of who requests what data, from what device, from what location, at what time and how often.

    Content providers and advertisers, however, are now finding that the request-driven operation of HTTP and client-side rendering of HTML/etc... means that consumers necessarily have control over what they request and render and so they can (relatively) simply tell their PCs and browser to simply not request content from sources they don't like or to not render certain elements.

    In other words: advertisers are upset because they don't like the fact that the knife cuts both ways.

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