Facebook has made its first moves to tackle the growing trend of ad blocking, with a new update that forces desktop users to see adverts.
Under the new scheme, users will be allowed to customise the types of adverts they see by selecting the brands and businesses they prefer.
“As we offer people more powerful controls, we’ll also begin showing ads on Facebook desktop for people who currently use ad blocking software,” said Facebook’s advertising vice-president Andrew Bosworth in a blog post.
“People don’t like to see ads that are irrelevant to them or that disrupt or break their experience,” Bosworth added.
User adoption of ad-blocking software has grown rapidly in recent years, particularly outside of the US.
According to estimates by online advertising trade body the Interactive Advertising Bureau, 26% of US internet users now use ad blockers on their desktop devices.
With the move, Facebook risks turning off some of its 1.7 billion monthly users who prefer not to see ads while browsing the internet.
However, users are more likely to access Facebook’s app on smartphones and tablets, which are less susceptible to ad blocking than personal computers. Facebook will not circumvent ad blockers on mobile devices.
Ad Preferences from Facebook on Vimeo.
Some ad-blocking software providers have faced fierce criticism from the media industry for their business models in recent months. Eyeo GmbH, the company behind popular desktop ad-blocking tool Adblock Plus, accepts payment from more than 70 companies in exchange for letting their ads through its filter.
Commenting on the decision, Eyeo, the company behind Adblock Plus, said: “This is an unfortunate move, because it takes a dark path against user choice. But it’s also no reason to overreact: cat-and-mouse games in tech have been around as long as spammers have tried to circumvent spam filters.”
Facebook generated $6.2bn (£4.7bn) in revenue from adverting in the most recent quarter. About 200 million people worldwide use ad-blocking software on their computers.
The move is likely to rekindle a debate between content providers that rely on advertising revenue and users trying to avoid unwanted commercials.