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Conde Tech Site Blocks Ad-Blocker, Incites Riot

On Friday, Condé Nast-owned technology-news site Ars Technica blocked its content for users who were employing a particular ad-blocking tool. The result was confusion, backtracking, and some seriously ticked-off readers. In response, editor Ken Fisher wrote a piece entitled, "Why Ad-Blocking Is Devastating to the Sites You Love," which argued that, unless a site resorts to a subscription model, they need functioning ads to live.

"Imagine running a restaurant where 40% of the people who came and ate didn't pay," Fisher writes. "In a way, that's what ad blocking is doing to us." Adds Fisher, while some of ad pay on a per-click basis, much of it is under a pay-per-view system. Meanwhile, some ad-blocker makers and users argue that too many online ads unreasonably disrupt the browsing experience.

Read the whole story at Wall Street Journal »

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