IE8 to block tracking pixels, advertisers worried

[mj]

Privacy advocates think the next version of Internet Explorer, the program that connects most of us to the Web, is a step in the right direction.
Advertisers? Well, they're not so sure.


The advertising industry is bracing for trouble from the next version of Microsoft's Internet Explorer, details of which were announced today, because it will offer a feature that blocks some ads and other content from third-parties that shows up on Web pages.


"It has the potential to undermine the economies of the Internet," said Mike Zaneis, vice president of the Interactive Advertising Bureau.


Most online advertising is served to Web pages by advertising networks -- third parties. Blocking the ads would cut into the money Web publishers rely on, he said. While other ad blockers have been around, this feature worries some because it would come built into the world's most popular Web browser.


A Microsoft spokesman said that the feature, to be known as "InPrivate Blocking," was never designed to be an ad blocker, though "there may be ads that get blocked."

Instead, it was designed to stop tracking "pixels" or pieces of code that could allow third-party sites to track users as they move around the Web.

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