Yahoo Declares War On Ad-Blocking, Likens To Viruses

Yahoo may be in the midst of a revival, but the company isn't likely to win much praise with its latest move, updating its terms of service to ban ad-blocking.
Yahoo Declares War On Ad-Blocking, Likens To Viruses
Written by Matt Milano

Yahoo may be in the midst of a revival, but the company isn’t likely to win much praise with its latest move, updating its terms of service to ban ad-blocking.

Yahoo has been attempting to return to its glory days, especially since it was purchased from Verizon by Apollo Global Management. The company has hinted at a return to the search engine market it helped pioneer, purchased a number of startups, spun off Vespa.ai, and is leaving the door open to another IPO.

In the latest Yahoo Terms of Service, however, the company is making clear what it thinks of ad-blocking, even lumping it in with viruses.

d. Member conduct. You agree not to use the Services in any manner that violates these Terms or our Community Guidelines, including to:

vii. make available viruses or any other computer code, files, programs or content designed to interrupt, destroy or limit the functionality of the Services or affect other users or use any ad-blocking technology when using the Services;

It’s not uncommon for companies and website that rely on advertising to take efforts to restrict the use of ad-blockers. YouTube is another prime example, with the company taking increasingly aggressive action to prevent their use. Nonetheless, lumping ad-blockers in with viruses is a huge leap, and one that hows just how much Yahoo is intent on pushing back against them.

At this time, there are no reports of functionality being limited for users employing ad-blockers, but that is likely coming.

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