Facebook is looking to stop playing ball with ad blockers.
On Tuesday, Facebook tweaked its desktop website in a way that renders traditional ad blocking useless. The company redesigned its ad formats to improve ad performance and expanded its controls so that users get to see those ads that are relevant.
In addition, Facebook noted that its desktop users using ad blocking software will now be able to see ads nonetheless. It can do this because the ads are housed in the company’s own ecosystem.
According to the Facebook’s blog, the social media giant has “introduced tools to help people control their experience, improved how we decide which ads to show and created new ad formats that complement, rather than detract from, people’s experience online.”
Facebook claims that ads can be useful in finding new products and experiences, but that the way ads are being served is the main problem. The company argues that many users are installing ad blockers to avoid disruptive, slow-loading and irrelevant ads.
Facebook also noted that some ad blocking vendors are accepting money to unblock specific ads. As such, the company feels that it goes against its company ethos of keeping its services free and using ads to support journalism.
It’s a bold move by Facebook and obviously aimed at protecting its own revenue base – which is largely ad based. It may only be a matter of time for other social media and internet platforms to follow and find other ways around ad blocking software in the name of good user experience.
So Facebook has made its move; now, it is up to users who are fed up with online ads to react.