Bloomberg reports on Facebook and Google's obvious advantages. They're the "800-pound gorillas in online advertising because of audience reach and superior targeting. They enjoy another
lesser-known advantage: they're largely immune to ad blocking." Why? "Facebook is a textbook example of how technology enshrines advantage. While it was prey to ad blockers when most users
preferred computers, it's
played a blinder in the shift to mobile. The ads within the mobile Facebook app (and its photo-sharing app Instagram) can't be stripped out by
blockers. They're delivered by Facebook servers with none of the usual identifiers." This gives Facebook an advantage. Facebook and Google's move to mobile seems to have made a big difference. Read the whole story at Bloomberg »
Not using the "usual identifiers" is obviously a temporary measure. I expect the blockers will adapt to unusual identifiers quickly in the whack-a-mole game of ad avoidance. For example, codes in my Facebook blocker get rid of entire columns in the display where ads appear.