Adblock Plus introduces new platform to increase Acceptable Ads’ transparency
It has been difficult to ignore the issue of online ads recently. Facebook’s approach to ads has been in the news in particular, but the battle between advertisers and ad blockers is one that has rumbled on for some time -- and looks set to continue to do so. At the forefront of ad blocking is Adblock Plus, and the company has just announced a new ad platform that aims to deliver ads that will not irritate internet users too much.
Acceptable Ads is an idea that has been bounced around for a while now, but today it has been relaunched as a completely new platform -- the Acceptable Ads Platform, funnily enough. It has two primary directives: to increase the transparency of Acceptable Ads, and to provide website creators with easy access to a database of pre-whitelisted ads that they can use to monetize their sites.
The company explains that the database includes a wide range of ads that have already been checked for compliance with the criteria for Acceptable Ads. This means that as well as not being intrusive in terms of animation and sound, the ads also comply with particular size and labeling requirements. For publishers, the focus is very much on ease of use, and Adblock Plus provides a drag and drop interface for adding these acceptable ads to a website.
The key to the success of Acceptable Ads is making it as simple as possible for people to implement, and this is very much what the introduction of the new platform is about. Adblock Plus’ Ben Williams says:
Starting today we’re launching the beta version of a fully functional ad-tech platform that will make whitelisting faster and easier. To do it, we teamed up with publisher platform-provider ComboTag to build what will be known as the Acceptable Ads Platform, an interactive platform that lets publishers and bloggers choose from a marketplace of pre-whitelisted ads that they can drag and drop onto their sites.
The AAP will cut the whitelisting process from weeks to seconds, and all publishers have to do is implement a single line of code.
The beta program opens today for advertisers and publishers who are interested in testing it out, but the plan is to launch properly in the fall.
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