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Sen. Ron Wyden calls for an investigation of the ad-blocking industry:
On Tuesday, one of the Senate's fiercest tech critics, Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR), called on regulators requesting that they investigate the ad-blocking industry for anti-competitive behavior.
For years now, some of the largest tech firms have paid ad-blocking companies like Eyeo, which owns Adblock Plus, to avoid the software's restrictions and have their ads displayed on devices. In 2015, a report from the Financial Times showed that companies like Microsoft, Amazon, and Google were paying out ad blockers so that they could be added to a whitelist to avoid the software's filters.
In a letter to the Federal Trade Commission, Wyden outlined this behavior and asked Chairman Joseph Simons to open an investigation into the entire ad-blocking industry as a response. Wyden argued that any company that accepts payment to be whitelisted should be "far more transparent" about the process with its users.
In the case of Adblock Plus, the company announced in 2016 that it would be accepting some ads that weren't "intrusive or annoying." The company whitelists these acceptable ads and allows them to run on devices, but Wyden argues that this behavior is "anti-competitive.
The FTC confirmed that it had received the letter.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by fido_dogstoyevsky on Thursday January 16 2020, @03:38AM (2 children)
All ads are equal to me and they compete equally for my attention - I block them all. No whitelist.
It's NOT a conspiracy... it's a plot.
(Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 16 2020, @03:55AM (1 child)
All ads are equal to me and they compete equally for my attention - I block them all.
That makes you an "equal opportunity ads consumer", right?
(Score: 3, Touché) by fido_dogstoyevsky on Thursday January 16 2020, @06:24AM
Yep. And proud of it.
It's NOT a conspiracy... it's a plot.