Legal War on Ad Blocking May Be a Loser, if Recent German Rulings Are Any Guide

The ad industry is looking into whether it has potential legal remedies against ad blockers in the US, but the issue is already playing out in German courts -- in favor of the blockers. The regional court in Cologne ruled during the week of Sept 28, for example, in favor of Adblock Plus and Eyeo, the company that makes it, rejecting arguments by German publisher Axel Springer. Adblock Plus and its Acceptable Ads program do not "breach laws on competition, copyright or market dominance," the court found. Adblock Plus uses Acceptable Ads to whitelists ads that it deems unintrusive, at no charge to small- and medium-sized sites but with fees to "some larger properties." That would presumably include Axel Springer, one of Europe's largest publishers.