The name was later changed back to simply ‘Adblock’ without further explanation. Support staff claimed five months ago that the company was not being purchased by someone or preparing for participation acceptable ad program, but the move may have pre-empted today’s deal. What’s interesting is six months ago Adblock changed its name suddenly to BetaFish Adblocker, claiming it was an “experiment.”īetaFish is the name of Gundlach’s holding company that owned Adblock and around the same time had applied for a US trademark on the word ‘Adblock.’ Gundlach worked full time on Adblock after he quit his job in 2011, able to survive on the proceeds of donations from users prompted to ‘gift’ money toward the development when installing the extension. Since its launch in 2009, Adblock featured a screen that pushed users to pay for the use of the extension because it was classed as “honor-ware.” An ironic gesture, considering its existence technically deprives others of money. The only thing the team would tell us is that the tool’s creator Michael Gundlach will no longer have any relationship with the company - that probably means he’s cashed out.Īdblock’s previous director, Gabriel Cubbage, is now running things under the new owner. TNW contacted Adblock’s remaining staff to ask if they’d disclose the buyer but the company refused, saying that the purchaser had specifically asked not to be named.

For the extension’s claimed 40 million users this raises an interesting question: Can the extension continue to be trusted if the new proprietor is entirely anonymous?

Adblocker extension