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Free utility bans DoubleClick cookies and online advertisements as you browse the Web.
AdSubtract.com is trying to turn a heated privacy debate into profits. The company is giving away free software that blocks "cookies" and ads delivered by DoubleClick to Web browsers.
The company has singled out DoubleClick because it is the "most aggressive Internet advertising firm identifying and tracking people surfing the Web," says Ed English, president of AdSubtract.
As part of its marketing pitch, AdSubtract software (a 2.5MB download) comes preconfigured to block DoubleClick ads and cookies. But you can make the software block all Internet ads and decline all cookies, which are unique snippets of code that a Web site puts in a file in your browser, to "remember" you when you surf to that site. What's more, AdSubtract keeps a running scorecard on the number of items it blocks. English adds that while protecting privacy, the software also boosts download speeds of Web pages by removing banner ads.
English is hoping that consumers who download free versions of AdSubtract Standard Edition software will upgrade...