NY Times tests pop-up ads to combat ad-blockers

The New York Times (NYT) is testing pop-up ads that ask users to either whitelist the website or subscribe, in a bid to inform readers that quality journalism relies on digital advertising revenue and ad-blocking harms publishers. "Ad blockers do not serve the long term interest of consumers," the paper said. This sees NYT join Forbes, Slate, The Washington Post, and GQ in asking users to turn off ad-blocker.

The New York Times is the latest website to employ a pop-up to encourage readers using ad blockers to whitelist their site, according to Ad Age. The news site began testing out various methods including pop-up ads to get users to either whitelist the website or subscribe to the paper (which ironically still won't get rid of the ads) on a select group of readers.

The pop-up the message states, "The best things in life aren't free. Advertising helps us fund our journalism. To continue to enjoy the Times, please support us in one of the following ways." The New York Times joins a collection of sites including Forbes, Slate, The Washington Post, and GQ that utilize some type of pop-up to encourage readers to turn off their ad blockers. (GQ stops readers using ad-blockers from reading its site altogether.)

"Ad-blockers do not serve the long term interest of consumers."

A spokeswoman for The New York Times told Ad Age the publication is trying to inform readers of the dangers ad blocking poses to publishers. "Our goal is to inform users of the harm of ad blocking and to encourage the whitelisting of nytimes.com," the spokeswoman said. "Ad blockers do not serve the long term interest of consumers. The creation of quality news content is expensive and digital advertising is one way that The New York Times and other high quality news providers fund news gathering operations."