MINT 709, Capstone Project Report
A Quantitative Analysis of Effectiveness of Two Ad Blocking Engines
(Edited for Web)
Prepared by: Mark Leonard
Prepared for: Dr. M. MacGregor
December 2011
Abstract
In the past, the target audience of traditional advertising (such as newspapers, magazines, and billboards) has not incurred costs associated with the ads. This is not necessarily the case when it comes to online advertising. Presumably, online ads increase the total size of webpages that are downloaded – the extra throughput due to the embedded images and other content inherent in advertising. Online ads also represent a potential increase in the time required to load web pages. For companies who pay for Internet usage, increases in page size caused by advertising could have financial consequences.
With some configuration, ad blocking engines can reduce total web page size by approximately 10%. With poor configuration, it is possible to see an increase in total page size due to filtering.
Acknowledgements
I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Dr. M. MacGregor for his guidance and encouragement in the completion of this report. I would also like to thank my parents for their continued support and cooperation throughout my studies. My sisters deserve thanks for their gracious hospitality and accommodations whenever I was in Edmonton for classes and research.