Stonewalling messages
on the medium

Online marketers are remaining surprisingly calm in the face of Adblock, a software for the Firefox web browser that empowers users with the ability to strip rich-media ads from websites they are visiting, reports Brandweek.

The prevailing opinion from marketers has been that Adblock Plus will not change the online advertising industry, despite the fact that, for Firefox users, it completely eliminates the fruits of their efforts.

Firefox is perceived as a "niche browser," so advertisers maintain the add-on software will not have a serious impact on ad delivery.

Firefox currently enjoys 17 percent of the browser market.

Some say technology that blocks out ads actually has the potential to make the industry better: They force creatives to make better ads.

Not everyone is so lackadaisical about the threat, however. A marketer for American Honda Motor calls Adblock "frightening" and the Interactive Advertising Bureau is touching base with technology firms to discourage use.