Google may be paying AdBlock plus to not block its ads

Google has allegedly paid AdbBlock Plus to let its advertisements filter through to users who have the extensions installed. The Internet giant is reportedly one of the many companies that are paying the makers of the extension in order that their advertisements appear on a “whitelist”.

According to a report by Horizont it is unclear how much Google or any other company has paid Eyeo, the makers of the controversial AdBlock Plus extension, to display their ads. The extension is one of the most popular ones on Google Chrome as well as Mozilla Firefox and Opera. Once installed, the extension stops advertisements and annoying pop-ups from being displayed on websites.

Google may be paying AdBlock Plus to let its ads through

Naturally, the extension has eaten up into the revenue generated by advertisements for most companies. The service thus has a programme called the “Acceptable Ads” whitelist. The feature, which has been around since 2011, allows some “unobtrusive” ads to filter through the extension unblocked.

This “Acceptable Ads” feature is turned on by default the moment you install the extension. You will need to tinker around with the settings in order to be able to opt-out of seeing these “Acceptable Ads” as well. AdBlock Plus has admitted in its FAQs section that it indeed generates some kind of revenue from whitelisting advertisers.

“Whitelisting is free for all small websites and blogs,” it reads. “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 nonintrusive advertisements that want to participate in the Acceptable Ads initiative.”

If Google has indeed paid to get on to the 'Whitelist' it could prompt other advertisers and ad-servers to do the same.