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Those insidious website ads that creep across a page and obscure the content are often driven by Macromedia Flash. If you find Flash an unwelcome trend on blogs and news sites, Amy Gahran at Poynter Online recommends an extension for Firefox browsers that lets you control what if anything you see. She writes:
I'm sorry if Flash-based ads are a cornerstone of your online business model. But frankly, basing your business model on something that annoys people is probably not a sound approach in an age where audiences exercise ever-finer control over the media they receive. Fighting human nature is always bad business in the long run.
Only about 17% of LAO page views last month used Firefox, so this doesn't apply much here. But there it is.