The company promises a Super Bowl ad if it can get the money

Aug 26, 2013 09:29 GMT  ·  By

The internet is divided over ad blockers, in that users love them and sites hate them. With much of the web funded by ads, from Google to Facebook to this very site, it's easy to see how getting rid of all of them could be detrimental to much of what's happening on the web.

However, the creators of most ad blocking tools argue that people only want to get rid of bad ads and that improving the quality of advertising on the web benefits users, sites and the companies buying the ads equally.

Ad blockers aren't anything new, they've been around for years; yet, the web is still here, indicating that there are plenty of people out there who are fine with ads on their sites or, alternatively, who don't know they can get rid of them.

It's these people that a new campaign by AdBlock, the maker of the AdBlock Chrome extension, is targeting. The company has put together a Kickstarter-type campaign on its own site, asking people for money to, well, buy some ads.

The company plans to advertise its tools on the web and even in Times Square if it can get the funding. In fact, if it can raise $4.2 million (€3.1 million), it promises a Super Bowl spot. With just $8,000 (€6,000) so far, $4.2 million seems a bit ambitious.

The irony of using ads to get rid of ads isn't lost on the company, but the idea is actually quite good, since it's guaranteed to reach all the people who would find the tool useful, i.e. everyone who still sees ads online, and no one who has AdBlock or similar tools installed.

"We will use the money raised to make AdBlock banner ads and video commercials, and we will show these across the internet to people who don't have AdBlock. If we raise enough, we will implement our craziest advertising ideas and capture the whole world's imagination," AdBlock explained.