Ad Blocker Detection can help you recover ad revenue by identifying readers who have ad blockers active and prompting them to disable the blocker, log in, or subscribe. You can choose between a gentle reminder or a full content gate, and all reader-facing copy is configurable in the Publisher App.
Choosing a mode
Two modes are available, and they can be used independently or together.
Soft mode (dismissible banner)
Soft mode displays a notification bar at the top of the page when an ad blocker is detected. Readers can close the banner, and the dismissal persists for the rest of their browsing session. The banner reappears in the next session if the blocker is still active.
The default banner copy reads: “It looks like you’re using an ad blocker. Ads help support our journalism. Please consider disabling your ad blocker.” You can replace this with their own message in the Publisher App.
Hard mode (content gate)
Hard mode displays a full-page overlay that blocks access to the article until the reader disables their ad blocker. The overlay uses the title “Ad Blocker Detected” and a body message that you can customize.
The call-to-action adapts to the reader’s current state:
- Logged-out readers see a Log in link that preserves their original destination, so they return to the article they were trying to read.
- Logged-in readers without a subscription see Subscribe for an ad-free experience, which links to the products page.
- Existing subscribers on an ad-supported tier see Upgrade for an ad-free experience.
Hard mode is only available when soft mode is also enabled. If soft mode is turned off, hard mode is automatically disabled as well.
Who does not see the prompts
Several groups are deliberately excluded to avoid frustrating legitimate users or breaking key flows:
- Subscribers with the NoAds entitlement (existing ad-free subscribers) never see either prompt.
- The content gate is suppressed on
/productsroutes so readers can complete subscription checkout without interference. The soft banner can still appear on these pages. - Readers using tracker-only blockers (such as Privacy Badger) and DNS-level or VPN-level blockers (such as NextDNS or AdGuard DNS on iOS) are not flagged. These tools do not necessarily block ads on the publisher’s site, and treating them as ad blockers would produce false positives.
Configuring detection in the Publisher App
Settings live under Ads → Ad Blocker Detection, which is open by default. Four fields are available:
- Enable ad blocker detection — turns on soft mode.
- Enable hard ad blocker detection (content gate) — turns on hard mode. This option is only visible when soft mode is enabled, and it resets if soft mode is turned off.
- Soft detection banner message — overrides the default banner copy.
- Hard detection gate message — overrides the default gate copy.
Recommendations
Start with soft mode to gauge how readers respond before introducing the content gate. If you enable hard mode, take time to write gate copy that matches your publication’s voice, since this is often a reader’s first prompt to subscribe. Review the default CTAs to confirm that your /products page is configured for the subscription and upgrade paths the gate links to.