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Again,
Norton is not just blocking pops, it is blocking
banners, text links, some navigation, even occasional
site logos. Also it is not just blocking - it actually
strips the source code right out of the page. In most
cases even if a webmaster tries to help a customer view
the page by turning off ad blocking and refreshing the
page - it still will not load properly.
For any naysayers that think if people are blocking
ads, they probably are not buyers anyway or for those
of you that think this problem is not that wide spread
or that Norton's market share is not that far reaching
- think again!
March 1,
'04 Symantec press release:
“Symantec
Security Software Ships on Nine of the Top 10 Notebook
Computers Worldwide...
and sales of notebooks have now surpassed those of
desktops…” www.symantec.com/press/2004
Despite the fact that these
products are sold and marketed as "security products"
and in spite of the fact that ad blocking is not even
mentioned on their main product page as a feature -
adblocking is ON by default! It is an added feature
not a main feature! Users should have the option
to turn it on, it should not be the default. Norton
sells this product based on fears about hackers,
privacy and every other Internet threat there is. Text
links are not threats, they don't eat bandwidth and
should not be stripped out by a product labeled as a
security product.
People buy products like
this out of paranoia and many times leave everything
turned on that is default and assume that the more
protection the better. How many average Joe and Jill
surfers that are non-technical even read the directions
or learn what the program does? With a well known name
like Norton, I bet most just install this software,
trust they are protected and have no idea how much
information and content Norton is blocking.
My STRONG guess is many unsavvy surfers do not even
realize ad blocking is on and think the blank spots on
some sites are just mistakes. This is evidenced
by the fact that more and more affiliates and etailers
are getting tech support calls and emails saying "I
want to buy something on your site but there is no
link, how can I buy this?" Even the Washington
Post, below has had to address the issue of missing
content due to Norton blocking in their support files,
see below.
I am
not an affiliate or a merchant, so I have not
personally suffered any loss of revenue. I am an
affiliate management consultant and it’s my job to help
clients (etailers) and affiliates make money online.
So I share this info in an effort to help others become
aware of the issue and discover potential solutions
which could help protect your online revenues.
Again, I have nothing to gain personally by writing
about this. I simply believe affiliates and online
advertisers face too many threats to their online
revenue from parasites, hijackers, hackers, fraud and
other unscrupulous activities as it is. Internet
marketers should not have to worry about protecting
their livelihoods from a big company like Symantec that
bundles overly aggressive, default ON ad blocking
technology in with security products that play into
surfer’s fear and are just supposed to keep the web
safe. If
Symantec was blocking ads with a stand-alone product called “Ad
Blocker 2004,” that worked properly and did not strip
other site content and people were only buying it if they
specifically wanted to block ads - I would not be
writing this article.
UPDATE -
We all have
a voice and can make it heard to affect change, even
with a big company like Symantec. I just got a message
that the 2005 version has been changed. "My NIS 2005
shipped to me with default ad blocking OFF. When I went
into the control panel to switch ad blocking on, it
gave me a big warning that web pages may not display as
intended and are you sure you want to enable ad
blocking." Thanks for listening Symantec. That's
what we wanted to see. Leaving this page up for
information purposes since many users still have the
old software with ad blocking on by default and
webmasters still keep wondering why their ads don't
show.
Voice your objection or
share your ideas or solutions on the affiliate forum at
WebProWorld
here.
Additional resources
and potential
solutions:
ARTICLES
Is Norton Blocking Your
Internet Marketing Efforts?
- In-depth article I
wrote for About.com
Norton Antivirus 2004 Ad Blocking - Tough Call? -
SlashDot
Norton 2004 web site
blocking hurts Web sales
MarketingIdeas.org
Partial List of the 200
or so phrases and domains Norton blocks
(Be sure these words are not in your ads,
subdirectories or URLS.)
Washington Post
"help
files" Warns users
about defacement of the Post's site and what to do.
(FYI this is fairly good wording on how to address the
issue with your site visitors.)
SOFTWARE
SOLUTIONS (I have not tested
these, just passing on potential options)
Affiliate
Anti-Ad Showcase Manager
-
This software was
designed to combat the problem.
Free Link Cloaker
(A friend
called and told me how he uses this free software to
cloak his links. I asked him to put up a page
explaining it. He will also help install if you
need it. The key to this software is your links will be
sent to
page on one of your domains instead of having CJ or
other blocked domains in the URL links. You will
still need to adjust or hide standard banner sizes to
prevent them from being blocked)
CensorBuster
-
Free Norton
Detection Script
Censorbuster.com/blocked
Link to
this page to explain & show how to turn Norton blocking
off.
MarketingIdeas.org -
This
site points to a potential software solution
FORUMS (Research and discuss
the options here)
Norton
Blocking Affiliate + Webmaster Revenue -
WebProWorld
affiliate forum
Norton software blocking Affiliate ads
WebmasterWorld
AdSense
invisible to Norton Internet Security users
WebmasterWorld
Norton
Internet Security 2004 blocking Google Adwords!
WebmasterWorld
Norton Blocking Affiliate Links +
Banner
Amazon Affiliate Boards
Norton
Blocking Affiliate Links & AdSense Revenue
JimWorld SEO Forum
More info and links coming
soon...
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