Register by Jan 13 to save on passes and connect with marketers from Uber, Bose and more
Condé Nast is the latest publisher to join the war on ad blocking. Its GQ magazine is preventing people using ad blockers from accessing its site with a popup asking them to disable their ad blockers or pay 50 cents to read an article.
GQ isn’t the first publication to take a hard line in forcing people to disable their ad blockers. Forbes has a message on its welcome screen asking people to turn off their ad blockers in order to access the site (but to soften the blow, it’s promising an ad-light version of the site in exchange).
Other publishers have taken a gentler approach, serving friendly messages to ad block users asking them to disable their ad blockers.
For the payment part, GQ is using CoinTent, a micropayment system started earlier this year that lets publishers charge for access to an article or video. Once you click the pay button, you’re prompted to set up an account with a digital wallet that’s designed to make it easy to buy content around the Web. CoinTent’s site also lists another Condé Nast site Epicurious as a client. GQ and Condé Nast haven’t responded to requests for comment.
Ad blocking has become a major concern among mainstream publishers this past year as consumers, fed up with ads clogging their surfing experience and worried about their online privacy, have begun ad blocking in big numbers. Ad blocking means lost revenue for publishers as it means fewer eyeballs to sell ads against.
More in Media
Media Briefing: Here’s what media execs are prioritizing in 2026
Media executives enter 2026 weathered by disruption, but refocused on AI revenue, brand strength and video and creator opportunities.
Why publishers are building their own creator networks
Publishers are forming creator networks to regain control, combat traffic declines, and reach audiences shifting toward influencers.
The accidental guardian: How Cloudflare’s Matthew Prince became publishing’s unexpected defender
Cloudflare’s day job is fending off botnets and nation-state cyberattacks, not debating how Google and other AI firms crawl publisher sites.