TLDR: PrivDog and Adblock has the same sentiments; just different methods of enforcement. It’s all just a question of “Who do you trust?”
I’m not entirely fond of adblock–well i’m not fond of extensions in general, but this is rather unfair and solicits a bad image for the extension. I’m in no way representing adblock nor am I affiliated with them. What I say is not representative of adblock but from experience and what I’ve read about the extension.
Which ads are "acceptable"?We currently have the following requirements:
Static advertisements only (no animations, sounds or similar) Preferably text only, no attention-grabbing images Ad placement: Ads should never obscure page content (e.g. require users to click a button to close the ad before viewing the page). For pages featuring a reading text ads should not be placed in the middle, where they interrupt the reading flow. However, they can be placed above the text content, below it or on the sides. The same applies to search results pages: paid search results cannot be mixed with organic results. When ads are placed above the content of a main page, they should not require the user to scroll down. The available vertical space is likely to be at least 700 pixels. Advertising should not occupy more than one-third of that height. Paid search results on search pages are allowed to occupy more space, but they should never outnumber organic results. When placed on the side ads should leave enough space for the main content. The available horizontal space can be expected to be at least 1000 pixels, and advertising should not occupy more than a third of that width. Advertising should be clearly marked as such with the word "advertising" or its equivalent, and it should be distinguishable from page content, for instance via a border and/or different a background color. Marking and placement requirements do not apply for hyperlinks with affiliate referrer IDs embedded in the content of the page. Additional criteria for hyperlinks with affiliate referrer IDs: Redirects originating from the hyperlink should not present any other webpage than the destination page. In texts, not more than 2 percent of the words can be hyperlinked for monetization purposes. Hyperlinks should not be formatted or behave differently than other links. Hyperlinks should not be misleading, in either content or placement.These criteria are not necessarily final; we are always working at improving them. In particular, we want to require that every user’s privacy is respected (e.g. mandatory Do Not Track support). However, we are not yet in a position to enforce that requirement.
Will all “acceptable” ads be unblocked?No. Unfortunately, it isn’t technically possible to recognize ads that meet our Acceptable Ads criteria automatically. We have agreements with some websites and advertisers that only advertising matching our criteria will be used. These ads will be unblocked, i.e., added to the Acceptable Ads exception list which is enabled per default.
No applicant will be favored or treated differently, and no one can buy their way onto the whitelist. Everyone has to comply with the criteria and everyone has to go through the same process before the ads qualify as “acceptable.”
What if an ad is allowed that doesn’t meet the requirements?Please report it as you usually would. If an advertiser abuses his placement on the exception list we can always remove it from the list.
How can I see what you are allowing?The “Allow non-intrusive advertising” checkbox simply adds one more filter subscription to your list. You can view the filters here. Also, the special treatment of this filter subscription - which was added for reasons of usability - can be disabled by going to “about:config” and changing the extensions.adblockplus.subscriptions_exceptionscheckbox preference to false. This will allow you to view the filters for this subscription as usual.
Do you have questions or suggestions concerning this list? Feel free to get in touch with the community in our forum or contact us directly via email.
How can I get my website whitelisted?The process of getting your ads whitelisted takes about 10 working days:
If your website has ads that comply with the Acceptable Ads criteria, simply fill out this form. Someone from Eyeo, the company behind Adblock Plus, will contact you to determine the exact ads, and check whether they comply with our criteria. After you have made any necessary changes, both sides sign an agreement. We submit the whitelisting proposal in the forum. We set a period of about a week for community discussion in order to determine if each particular candidate complies with our criteria. If there are no valid concerns, we will add the ads to our whitelist. The ads will then be shown to Adblock Plus users with default settings.</blockquote>As far as I remember, I do recall that PrivDog’s sentiments are the same with ABP. The only difference is that while ABP rely on the community, Comodo rely on AdTrustMedia and on
Comodo’s award winning Internet security software and vulnerability detection systemsA large misconception about the whitelisting process is that certain ads are categorically approved or disapproved before contact with us. All ads must be approved; but whitelisting is a process, and we accompany every potential whitelister every step of the way. If changes need to be made, we are right there to help applicants make them.Ref: https://adblockplus.org/blog/acceptable-ads-by-the-numbersBut keeping track of whitelisted domains and constantly updating our filter lists is painstaking. Which is part of the reason we need money...We also have no intention of stopping with Adblock Plus — hence the existence of Eyeo GmbH, an essential structure for legal reasons but more importantly a springboard for new software. Think Mozilla, just under German law, which doesn’t allow for such a clean division between corporation and organization as the American 501© does.The next step in the whitelisting process, after we’ve worked with the applicants to meet our criteria, is the formal proposal, of which we’ve had 148 to date. Of those, over 90 percent get whitelisted for free. Free means totally and unconditionally without cost. No euro, no dollar, no peso — nada. However, all whitelisted ads must at all times conform to Acceptable Ads criteria, regardless of whether the advertisers behind them pay or not.Whitelisting is free for all small- and medium websites and blogs. However, managing this list requires significant effort on our side and this task cannot be completely taken over by volunteers as it happens with common filter lists. That's why we are being paid by some larger properties that serve non-intrusive advertisements that want to participate in the Acceptable Ads initiative.Ref: https://adblockplus.org/en/acceptable-ads-agreementsJust a couple of months ago (December if memory serves me right) there was a discussion about PrivDog being spyware and that was ridiculed, and for what reason? Because the user didn’t know about PrivDog’s policies and mechanisms? How does that differ from here? It’s really starting to look like double standard. An error is an error regardless of who or how many made it.
The sad part really is the same techcrunch article was what previously made me aversive of adblockers until I read the discussion and how dismal (appalling even) it all looked; most of them non sequitur. Just because something happens simultaneously with another doesn’t mean one caused the other. More importantly, statement of facts taken out of context or stated to support another fact will never reach a credible conclusion. Even if it is a fact, if it has no value, it will remain a fact (out of context especially and largely ad hominem).
It seems to me that in as far as intentions go, they share the same goal. The real difference is who do you trust. Come on. Let’s be professional about this. Don’t start talking about someone in a place where they can’t defend themselves. Ask them before throwing out remarks.