Software that blocks ads on the Web has been around for almost as long as the banners themselves. But for various reasons, these tools never caught on.
Still, when RealNetworks recently began promoting a new version of ad-blocking software, some of its clients were aghast. After all, Webcasters depend on banner advertising to survive. They complain that Real's promotion of AtGuard, a product developed by WRQ, a Seattle-based software company, is a threat to their livelihood.
"There is a fundamental principle involved in surviving the Internet streaming business," said Scott Mathias, editorial director of ITVworld.com, a Real client that was rankled by the development. "I consider Real's release of 'revenue-blocking software' as ill-conceived and ill-timed, and it is definitely an illustration of Real's totally unsupportive partnership program."
Mathias wasn't the only one to complain. Messages went out on Webcasting newsgroups, and debate ensued about the company's motivations -- might they be undermining banner ads to promote their new audio and video advertising tools?
They threatened to boycott Real's software and find other ways to undermine the company's business. Others, however, noted that ad-blockers are a user's right.
Although RealNetworks didn't develop the ad-blocking software, the company did promote it -- at a 50 percent discount, to boot -- in an email message that went out to many of its customers earlier this month:
*Dear RealPlayer Plus Customer, *
Time stands still -- especially if you're waiting for slow Web sites to load. And it's even worse when the wait is caused by graphics or pop-ups that you'd rather not see. Finally, there's a solution.
It's called AtGuard, an award-winning application that boosts your computer's performance, privacy, and protection online. Try it now from RealNetworks, risk-free, for only $14.95.
AtGuard is designed to speed up Web page downloads -- by up to six times, the company claims -- and lets users set up a personal firewall that can selectively block graphics, cookies, and other widgets.
Steve Banfield, general manager for the RealPlayer group, said that the company had no intention of undermining its clients' business, and that its availability "was just a case of the e-commerce guys saying, 'this is a cool product that our customers might like.'"
"We still make money on banner ads, and we're not so stupid to make that part of our revenue model go away," he explained. "At the end of the day, I think most people realize they have two options: ad-free content, à la HBO, or they can watch ads and have that support what they are doing."
