Study: tools to limit ad tracking are clunky

From http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9221379/Study_User_tools_to_limit_ad_tracking_are_clunky:

 

Well, the big issue is not really how difficult they are to use, but how ads have affected the web in general, and, of course, business:

1. Not every tool blocks all ad networks. Some tools, like ABP, Noscript and others, come with white-lists already built in. And, some just don't cover certain ones at all, making you need another tool, or two or three.

2. Some websites simply will not work once they sniff these tools in the air. At this point, you either shut the tools off, making them useless, or, you hunt down one, two, three or more filters/scripts, allow them, and hope that clears you..and it sometimes doesn't.

3. With Flash based ads, you either shut off Flash entirely which, on a Flash based website or one filled with Flash content, basically shuts down the site, or, again, you create your own filter (say in ABP) or simply deal with the ads.

The tools themselves aren't necessarily the issue, it's really just that these trackers and ads have infested the web so badly, and become so much a part of web business, that they just can't work effectively 100% of the time. In truth, we're really lucky they are still as effective as they are, and that we can still access most sites with them enabled. I don't know if that will always be the case, and I suspect it won't be.

 

Why is that bad?

No NoScript or OptimizeGoogle! With Adblock Plus, OptimizeGoogle and NoScript, there are almost no ads. Ads are not only distracting and annoying, they are dangerous -http://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?p=1967426.