Adblock Plus Now Sells Ads

Adblock Plus, "the most popular browser extension" according to its own website, will soon do the very thing users download it every day to stop: show ads.

The Wall Street Journal has reported that Adblock's parent company Eyeo GmbH has developed "the Acceptable Ads Platform," an "automated ad marketplace" allowing companies and publishers to purchase web ads that appear for Adblock users. These ads must follow Adblock's acceptable ads criteria, a guide that outlines everything an ad that can pass the blocking software's filters must have.

Along with Eyeo, ComboTag, Google and AppNexus, which will help develop the Platform, will each receive a share of the revenue from acceptable ads.

Ad blocking has been contentious since its inception, as it blocks ad revenue from companies that rely on the income. Ben Williams, Adblock Plus’s operations and communications director, told The Verge that the new Adblock is an attempt to change this kind of browsing experience. “Ad blocking would have happened with or without us,” he said. “What we were able to do is try and reverse the spread of 100 percent black-and-white ad blocking, blocking everything. Acceptable ads was a pivot toward what we think is better.”

The Acceptable Ads Platform launches in beta today and in full later this year, according to The Verge. More than 25% of internet users browse with ad blocking software, according to the Interactive Advertising Bureau.