Dive Brief:
- Ad Replacer, a new app for Chrome browsers, does just that – it swaps out "obnoxious" ads with content.
- The ad blocking ad relies on human curators to find content from a variety of news sources, such as BBC, CNN and the Verge, to replace the ads the technology blocks.
- Ad Replacer was created by Jason Calacanis, an early investor in Uber and Tumblr, and current principal at the Inside.com, an aggregation news site.
Dive Insight:
Chrome users have a new ad blocking tech option that goes beyond just zapping annoying website advertisements. Calacanis said “ad replacing” is a new ad blocking category, and actually helps publishers by sending them even more traffic. He recently tweeted that Ad Replacer is being angled as a replacement for content recommendation tech firms such as Taboola and Outbrain.
Ad blocking technology has been big news this year, especially after Apple added Safari mobile browser ad blocking capabilities into the recent iOS 9 release. Also, an Interactive Advertising Bureau senior VP admitted the group “messed up” in promoting ad revenue over creating a better user experience. Ad blocking tech firm Shine Technology took the IAB to task last week with a full page print ad in the Financial Times with a link to a website claiming the “ad blocking debate is over.”
Calacanis said there is no current plan in place to monetize the free app, but could foresee implementing a donation-based model later on.
