Adblock extension with 40 million users sells to mystery buyer, refuses to name new owner
Quote:
Adblock, a popular extension for blocking advertising in Chrome and Safari with more than 40 million users, was quietly sold today.
The extension displayed a popup on October 1 saying that it is now allowing EyeO’s acceptable advertising — which allows advertisers to buy their way onto the whitelist — through the filter.
Was casually browsing earlier using Google Chrome, opened a new tab, and this popped up: pic.twitter.com/BTmPabAwkd
— Adam Haworth (@aahaworth) October 1, 2015
Buried in the bottom of that message, however, was a more notable change: Adblock has been sold.
What’s strange is that the company won’t disclose who it’s been sold to, why it was sold, or how much it was sold for.
For the extension’s claimed 40 million users this raises an interesting question: Can the extension continue to be trusted if the new proprietor is entirely anonymous?
TNW contacted Adblock’s remaining staff to ask if they’d disclose the buyer but the company refused, saying that the purchaser had specifically asked not to be named.
Why would I delete it if I can just select ads to block in the future even if they are whitelisted
Unlisted owners is really shady, you don't know what they can do with the extensions (steal your information, take information, give your internet viewing habits to companies, sell you information)...etc.
