Sunday, March 20, 2011

Ad-Blocking in Apps is Piracy

I recently received some negative feedback on Mount Manager in the Android Market regarding my strict identification of ad-blocking applications.

The user said:

While I understand where the dev is coming from, the ad blocking restriction on this app is ridiculous. Ryan Conrad needs to understand that he is only encouraging piracy in his own app. Apps like this hurt the dev community for android.

This is not the first time that someone has complained about having to remove their ad-blocking software in order to use Mount Manager. Also keep in mind, this restriction is ONLY in place on the free version, if you purchase a license, you can use ad-blockers if you choose.

I feel very strongly against the use of ad-blocking, especially in applications. The ads that are displayed, potentially, generate revenue for the developer. If you have software that blocks these advertisements, you are preventing the developer to earn revenue, and thus committing piracy.

You probably completely disagree with me. You think ads in applications are annoying and get in the way and you never click on them any how, right?

Ok, well, Mount Manager, like many other applications, offers an ad free version, that also includes other features. But guess what, it isn’t free! I understand that you don’t want to see the ads, even if you never plan on clicking on them, and I offer a way for that to happen, while still allowing me, as the developer, to earn some revenue from the application. Remember back in the day, you had NetZero (it was actually free at one time), a free internet service provider. But guess what, they loaded advertisements up on your screen that were there while you were connected to their service. If you didn’t want to see the ads, guess what you had to do, that’s right, you had to pay for internet service.

So, that is my stance on ad-blocking applications for use with applications. I don’t expect it to change either. As long as I write applications, that display advertisements, I will have code that blocks the ad-blockers… I actually think it is sort of funny that people are mad that I have an “ad-blocker blocker”.

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2 comments:

  1. YanicJune 10, 2011 at 4:10 PM

    Funny thing is, I don't have an ad-blocker and I still get the 'you're running an ad-blocker, buy a license' popup.

    In fact, the ad is showing correctly on-screen together with the popup (would make for a nice FAIL picture).

    So you're losing potential users as well as potential buyers because your ad-blocker blocker isn't reliable.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Darth MinosAugust 31, 2011 at 2:08 PM

    The ad-blocker check is actually rather simple. If it is detecting that there is an ad-blocker then you have one of the defined applications installed on the device.

    The blocked packages are:
    - com.droidlab.adblocker
    - de.ub0r.android.adBlock
    - com.bigtincan.android.adfree
    - net.xdevelop.adblocker
    - com.dezhi.adterminator
    - soapbox.sym3try.andguardpro
    - com.canvs2321.absolute.system
    - com.jrummy.roottools
    - cz.netlab.pinky.adblock.update
    - com.perlapps.MyInternetSecurity
    - com.hexview.android.netspector
    - com.hexview.android.netspectorpro

    Some of these are not just ad blockers, and some can disable adblocking functionality, but since I cannot check if ad-blocking is on, I have to go based on if the application is installed.

    ReplyDelete

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Ad-Blocking in Apps is Piracy

I recently received some negative feedback on Mount Manager in the Android Market regarding my strict identification of ad-blocking applications.

The user said:

While I understand where the dev is coming from, the ad blocking restriction on this app is ridiculous. Ryan Conrad needs to understand that he is only encouraging piracy in his own app. Apps like this hurt the dev community for android.

This is not the first time that someone has complained about having to remove their ad-blocking software in order to use Mount Manager. Also keep in mind, this restriction is ONLY in place on the free version, if you purchase a license, you can use ad-blockers if you choose.

I feel very strongly against the use of ad-blocking, especially in applications. The ads that are displayed, potentially, generate revenue for the developer. If you have software that blocks these advertisements, you are preventing the developer to earn revenue, and thus committing piracy.

You probably completely disagree with me. You think ads in applications are annoying and get in the way and you never click on them any how, right?

Ok, well, Mount Manager, like many other applications, offers an ad free version, that also includes other features. But guess what, it isn’t free! I understand that you don’t want to see the ads, even if you never plan on clicking on them, and I offer a way for that to happen, while still allowing me, as the developer, to earn some revenue from the application. Remember back in the day, you had NetZero (it was actually free at one time), a free internet service provider. But guess what, they loaded advertisements up on your screen that were there while you were connected to their service. If you didn’t want to see the ads, guess what you had to do, that’s right, you had to pay for internet service.

So, that is my stance on ad-blocking applications for use with applications. I don’t expect it to change either. As long as I write applications, that display advertisements, I will have code that blocks the ad-blockers… I actually think it is sort of funny that people are mad that I have an “ad-blocker blocker”.