Posted On 03/18/05
Contributed by Boris

I was reading an interesting thread on a popular webmaster forum a couple of days ago. The thread was posted by a disgruntled webmaster that found out that the latest version of the Norton Internet Security - a popular anti-virus software - automatically blocks ALL of the ads on the websites its users' visit.

That's right - whether you have AdSense ads on your site, an affiliate program with Amazon, or you work with Commission Junction (or any other affiliate/PPC network), users with Norton Security simply don't see those ads on your sites, thus removing any chance you have of making a profit from them.

It's scary - first SmartTags by Microsoft, then AutoLinks by Google (which unfortunately is still alive and kicking), and now this?

I'm actually kind of surprised that Google and other networks, like CJ.com, let this slide. Norton is killing their revenue streams, as well. Hopefully, they will take a stand against that on behalf of all webmasters that simply want to make some money on their site.

I'm curious to see what others think about companies trying to control what we see on websites and what we don't. When is too much... too much?

Boris