Google and AppNexus deny involvement in Adblock Plus plans

Google and AppNexus say they will not place ads on the Acceptable Ads platform that Adblock Plus announced on Tuesday. Eyeo, owner of the adblocker, suggested collaborating with the ad networks in the announcement.

Both companies are responding to Business Insider to the announcement of the Adblock Plus ad platform. Both Google and AppNexus say they know nothing about a collaboration.

Eyeo, the owner of Adblock Plus, announced that it has developed a system for placing ‘acceptable ads’ in collaboration with ComboTag. The parties want to inject those advertisements on websites, while the advertisements that the websites place themselves are blocked. At the announcement, Eyeo and ComboTag stated that the ads are supplied by Google and AppNexus and that those companies will also receive a share of the proceeds.

AppNexus states in a blog post that it has nothing to do with Eyeo’s Acceptable Ads platform. The company says it has done business with ComboTag, but AppNexus will not assist Eyeo and Adblock Plus with the sale of advertisements. The company says the way the service wants to sell third-party advertising space itself goes against all of the company’s principles. AppNexus has since severed all business ties with ComboTag and its associated advertising network Shefa Media, the company told Business Insider.

While Google and AppNexus deny they will run their ads within the new Eyeo and ComboTag platform, the latter companies say the plans are going ahead. An Adblock Plus spokesperson and the CEO of ComboTag told Business Insider that the Acceptable Ads platform works with the infrastructure of Google AdX and AppNexus.

A beta is currently underway and the Adblock Plus advertising platform should be widely available later in the fall. If AppNexus and Google don’t support the platform as they state, they probably won’t show their ads through the new ad exchange. Eyeo and ComboTag will then probably have to work with other ad networks.