AdTrap: Kickstarter Project Provides Tool for Blocking Internet Advertising

By Karla Robinson
November 14, 2012

Three innovative thinkers from Palo Alto, California want to block all Internet ads — meaning no more website banners, no commercials in video streams, and no pop-ups in mobile apps.
To do so, the team created AdTrap, a $120 box that sits between a cable modem and wireless router.
“AdTrap is basically a small computer running the Linux operating system, programmed to recognize and block every sort of ad its creators could identify,” Quartz explains. “Many people already have ad blockers on our web browsers, but AdTrap’s combination of simplicity and comprehensiveness are reasons it could take off.”
Right now, the project has collected $20,000 in funding on Kickstarter, but the device won’t ship unless it gains $150,000 worth of pledges by December 8th.
There are Internet purists who would be very attracted to AdTrap, but Quartz suggests the average consumer might not be willing to pay $120 to remove what has simply become background noise.
If the project is successful, however, it could spell trouble for some websites.
“AdTrap is ‘open and very hackable,’ which means that it could be updated to block new kinds of advertisements,” notes the article. “It also promises to block the user tracking that many Internet advertisements engage in. Advertisers will hate that, of course, and so will the websites that depend on them.”

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