A safer, friendlier alternative to AdChoices

A lot of web sites have a link to AdChoices. Tried it lately? Probably not. The Opt Out page is designed to appease regulators, not to help users. AdChoices only opts out of some companies' tracking systems, so there is no way for a user to know, even after completing the opt-out process, whether he or she is opted out of all tracking on the site he or she came in from. AdChoices also prompts users to make a questionable change to the browser configuration: turning on third-party cookies. Just to make a bad UX story worse, the AdChoices malware is using the same name and logo now.

AdChoices is a slower, less effective, and more fragile choice than an ad blocker. If a user wasn't interested in ad blocking before, a visit to AdChoices will probably do it.

Giving users an alternative to ad blocking

Because of ongoing malvertising risks, running an ad blocker has been an understandable choice for users for quite a while. But that's changing. The new generation of tracking protection is easier then turning on tracking protection in a general-purpose ad blocker, and way easier than AdChoices. Most important, though, tracking protection is a net win for sites and brands, unlike dumb blockers.

Getting users to adopt tracking protection is important for all ad-supported sites. We all want to see sustainable budgets for publishers, and lower data leakage and fraud. But not all tracking protection works for all browsers. One option for sites is to detect the browser and link to an appropriate tracking protection tool or configuration instructions. (Bowser is a good way to do this, if you're up for some coding.)

Less confusing, though, to alert vulnerable users and offer a tracking test. That can be more complicated, since it involves setting up multiple domains, getting tracking protection listings, and more.

To keep it simple, Aloodo does it all for you. Sites can now use our tools, in place of that confusing AdChoices link, to alert the users who are most vulnerable to third-party tracking. Drop in an element with an id of tracking-warning-inline and display set to none.

<a id="tracking-warning-inline"
 href="http://www.aloodo.org/protection/"
 style="display: none;">Third
party tracking detected. Please install
tracking protection.</a>

This site uses third-party trackers, which
you have the option to turn off.

<a target="_blank"
href="http://www.aloodo.org/test/">(test)</a>

<script
 src="http://ad.aloodo.com/ad.js"></script>

Or use tracking-warning-block, as in the Aloodo privacy policy, for longer explanations. Today, with modern tracking protection, sites can do better than just AdChoices or ad blockers. The first step is to show users an opt out that works for everyone.