What are Acceptable Ads?

What are Acceptable Ads?

Acceptable Ads are respectful ads that do not disrupt the content you are viewing.

With Adblock Plus default settings enabled, you will see occasional non-intrusive ads. That's because we participate in the Acceptable Ads program. The Acceptable Ads program defines guidelines to identify non-intrusive ads, which we show by default. You can opt out of this setting at any time (see below).

Why should I agree to see Acceptable Ads?

When you allow Acceptable Ads to display, you are letting site owners know that you understand that viewing a few, non-intrusive ads is what allows them to provide their content to you for free. It tells them you will accept seeing a few smaller ads, but that you will no longer tolerate large, distracting, and obnoxious ads that keep you from focusing on the content you've come to enjoy. It also helps prevent sites from giving you an all-or-nothing ultimatum in the form of anti-adblocking walls that force you to disable your ad blocker to access their sites, then be overwhelmed by flashing ads and pop-ups you have to dismiss. It makes it clear to site owners, ad blockers, and advertisers that you want a fair internet for everyone.

Who started Acceptable Ads?

The Acceptable Ads criteria were developed in 2011 as a joint effort between Adblock Plus and its community of users. In 2017, eyeo GmbH (the company behind Adblock Plus) handed the criteria over to an independent committee. When you install Adblock Plus, all nonintrusive ads are displayed by default. To view the entire Acceptable Ads criteria, visit the Acceptable Ads criteria page.

What are Acceptable Ads without third-party tracking?

Acceptable Ads without third-party tracking are ads that comply with the Acceptable Ads criteria and also ask third-party entities not to track any of your browsing behavior. These are ads that comply with Do Not Track, or ads served by the domain you are visiting. Learn more here: Only allow ads without third-party tracking. 

What if I don't want to see any ads?

You can turn off this feature at any time and hide all ads. Learn how to turn off the Acceptable Ads feature.