If you believe what you read, and what you hear at events like the IAB's Annual Leadership Meeting, ad blocking is an existential crisis for the advertising industry, and even more so for the content publishing industry. At the aforementioned meeting, Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was even invoked, as evidence that ad blockers are destroying "the virtuous cycle that links freedom to advertise to freedom of the press to freedom of expression to economic freedom." Now that is a lot of freedoms. The implication is that unless ad blockers are put back in their box, the whole underpinning of the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, and our whole way of life, will be insidiously eroded.But what about another freedom? What about our freedom to not be annoyed by content we don't want to see or hear? I signed up for the "Do Not Call" directory for that exact reason. I'm sure many of you did, too. I now realize that I trampled on the right of free speech inherent to telemarketers. I won't lose sleep over it.To a large degree, all this talk of getting rid of ad blockers is pointless. If content publishers can block the blockers, great, they should. It makes economic sense for them. But in the end, it is not the ad blockers they should be concerned about. It is the people using them, the people who want them -- their readers and viewers (i.e., you and me). Continue reading at AdAge.com Continue reading at 'Advertising Age'
[ Advertising Age | 2016-02-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
Even as China's leaders promise a more liberal future for the country, they are suppressing those who would tell the truthThe year began with journalists from China's Southern Weekly striking because their paper had spiked a leader calling for constitutional protections for individual liberty at... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2013-12-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Fashion legend says: 'The living deserve respect. The dead deserve the truth... this will be my story'Doyenne of British fashion Dame Vivienne Westwood, credited with inventing punk style then bringing it to the catwalk, has sold rights to an autobiography. It will be co-written by Ian Kelly,... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2013-11-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Tue, 31/05/2011 - 16:21 An Edinburgh independent has proposed an alternative to World Book Night next year, where readers buy tickets to attend book swap events across the country. Vanessa Robertson, co-owner of the Edinburgh Bookshop, said she has... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-05-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
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