14 DAY TRIAL // AdBlock Plus, the original and still the most popular ad blocking add-on out there, has been getting some criticism, though mostly from biased parties, over its whitelisting policy. At first, AdBlock Plus simply removed all the ads it could find on all pages. But, more recently, it started allowing some ads from companies that adhere to its "Acceptable Ads" policy.
These ads must fit into the content of the site and not be distracting. But advertisers that are approved get a free pass from AdBlock Plus by default, though users can still block all ads if they want to.
The practice is somewhat controversial, since AdBlock Plus does sometime ask advertisers to pay to get whitelisted. Google is said to be one of the companies that works with AdBlock Plus to have its ads unblocked.
So now AdBlock Plus has come out with some stats about its Acceptable Ads program. Since it started the program, in 2011, the company got 777 applications. Only 9.5 percent of those were actually approved, though that's mostly because many applications were incorrect, fake, or advertisers simply stopped responding.
But 50 percent of the applications were rejected because they failed to meet the criteria needed to be included in the Acceptable Ads policy.
"A large misconception about the whitelisting process is that certain ads are categorically approved or disapproved before contact with us. All ads must be approved; but whitelisting is a process, and we accompany every potential whitelister every step of the way. If changes need to be made, we are right there to help applicants make them," AdBlock Plus explained.
What's more, AdBlock Plus doesn't charge anything for most applications; only 10 percent have paid to get into the approval process. But even advertisers that pay are judged by the same standards as everyone else, AdBlock Plus vows.