Blockthrough
AcquiredFounded 2015 · 21 employees on LinkedIn · 2 known investors
Blockthrough offers publishers ad-filtering technology that recovers revenue from ad-blocking users by serving lighter, user-friendly ads instead of blocking them entirely. The company works with online content publishers and was acquired by eyeo in 2022.
Also known as Blockthrough Inc.
Founders & leadership
Blockthrough was founded in 2015 by Marty Krátký-Katz.
Investors · 2
Company profile
researched Aug 2026Blockthrough supplies ad block revenue recovery technology to online publishers. Rather than asking ad-block users to disable their blockers, it delivers lighter, non-intrusive advertising that complies with quality standards including the Acceptable Ads Standard and the Better Ads standards, allowing publishers to monetize an audience that would otherwise not see ads. The company positions this audience at roughly 400 million users who are open to seeing fewer ads.
Integration is via a single line of JavaScript in the site header, which plugs into the publisher's existing ad server or header bidding wrapper and acts as a filtering layer for creative compliance. Publishers can restore compliant bids from existing demand sources and line items, including direct and sponsorship deals, programmatic, house, native, Google AdSense, Google AdX and Amazon. Blockthrough also offers BT Demand, curated demand via its own direct seats with SSPs that competes with existing line items on price priority through client-side, server-side or Open Bidding integrations, and Blockthrough Readership Link, a single-click user messaging tool for allowing ads. Supporting products include a free adblock analytics suite for measuring ad-blocking rates across a publisher's sites, a dashboard and a custom report builder. The company states it is a Google Certified Publishing Partner and an IAB Europe TCF v2.0 certified vendor, and that it addresses GDPR/CCPA compliance questions for publishers.
Blockthrough also publishes recurring industry research on ad blocking and ad filtering, including annual Adblock Reports (2017, 2020, 2021, 2022) and the 2023 eyeo Ad-Filtering Report.
Founding story
Founder Marty Krátký-Katz previously ran two unsuccessful startups, including Micrometrics, which he joined in 2013 and left in 2015 after selling his shares to his co-founders during a pivot toward the hotel sector. In the summer of 2015 he met engineer Chris Piper, who had developed the kernel of an idea for delivering ads through ad blockers in a way that could not be blocked. The two, both ad-block users and former business owners, focused on the tension between publishers' need for ad revenue to fund content and users' dislike of intrusive ad experiences, and built Blockthrough around that problem.
Business model
Blockthrough sells its ad-filtering and revenue-recovery technology to publishers, stating no setup fee, upfront cost or commitment; it restores advertising demand to ad-blocked inventory and also curates premium demand through its own SSP seats (BT Demand). Under the Acceptable Ads program, ad blockers such as AdBlock and Adblock Plus receive a fee cut of revenue publishers make from serving ads to ad-blocking audiences.
Revenue derives from monetizing publishers' previously unmonetized ad-blocked inventory, with the company reporting no setup fee or upfront cost to publishers and demand curated via direct SSP seats.
Traction
Company-reported figures include more than 13,000 sites powered by its technology, over 4.5 billion ad-blocked pageviews monetized monthly with compliant ads, more than $175 million in total revenue recovered for publishing partners to date, and 13 industry awards. A CafeMedia executive is quoted saying the publisher generates over $100,000 a month with the solution. At the time of the eyeo acquisition, Blockthrough had roughly 50 employees.
Latest developments
Since the November 2022 acquisition, Blockthrough operates as part of eyeo, which said its product and technology team would work with the Blockthrough team on publisher monetization and yield management products while continuing to invest in its ad exchange and Trestle DSP. Blockthrough's team page directs company, team and careers information to eyeo.com. The company published the 2023 eyeo Ad-Filtering Report and continues to market its adblock user messaging guide and Readership Link product.
▸Full profile — market position, technology, go-to-market, geography, history, risks & controversies
Market position
Blockthrough describes itself as the most popular ad-filtering solution among the Comscore Top 100 and reports its technology on more than 13,000 sites. It acquired its direct rival PageFair in 2018 and, since November 2022, operates as part of eyeo, the owner of AdBlock and Adblock Plus.
The approach focuses on ad filtering rather than requiring users to whitelist sites or disable ad blockers: compliant, lighter ads are served by default while the publisher's existing demand stack and ad server remain in place. The company cites its own research finding that 82% of ad block users prefer a lighter ad experience by default over being asked to whitelist a site or turn off their ad blocker.
Technology
A single line of JavaScript placed in the site header performs adblock detection and integrates with the publisher's ad server or header bidding wrapper, acting as a creative filtering and compliance layer so that only ads meeting Acceptable Ads and Better Ads quality standards are served to ad-block users. The stack supports multiple SSPs, client-side, server-side and Open Bidding connections, and includes analytics, a dashboard and a custom report builder. Documentation addresses page latency impact, CMP script ordering, local storage use and GDPR/CCPA compliance.
Go-to-market
Direct sales to publishers via demo requests, revenue estimates and a self-described turnkey integration, supported by case studies, blog content and annual industry reports on ad blocking. Distribution also runs through monetization partners and ad management platforms such as Freestar, NitroPay, PubGalaxy and Publisher Collective. Following the eyeo acquisition, eyeo said it planned to build on Blockthrough's existing direct publisher relationships and to staff its own publisher sales team in 2023.
Online publishers, including large-scale media companies and ad monetization partners; cited users include AccuWeather, CafeMedia, Healthline Media, Freestar, NitroPay, Venatus, PubGalaxy by Azerion, Future plc, Publisher Collective and 9GAG.
Geography
Serves publishers internationally, with technology deployed on more than 13,000 sites globally; the company is an IAB Europe TCF v2.0 certified vendor and its acquirer eyeo is a German-headquartered company. Named publishers span North America, Europe and Asia, including Hong Kong-based 9GAG.
History
After launching from the 2015 partnership between Marty Krátký-Katz and Chris Piper, Blockthrough acquired its direct rival PageFair in 2018 and continued publishing PageFair/Adblock reports. Krátký-Katz served as president of the Acceptable Ads Committee until stepping aside in July 2022. In November 2022, eyeo, parent of AdBlock and Adblock Plus, acquired the company, with all approximately 50 Blockthrough employees joining eyeo's 250-person organization; the deal price was not disclosed. A podcast interview with the founder characterizes the outcome as a bootstrapped exit of nearly $100 million.
Risks & controversies
The ad blocking sector has faced industry criticism: in 2016 then-IAB CEO Randall Rothenberg publicly attacked eyeo, and some industry stakeholders remain wary of ad blockers charging publishers to monetize their own readers. Eyeo's incoming CEO acknowledged brand perception as a challenge and said the company avoids approaching publishers directly for that reason. There is also a persistent misconception that eyeo controls the independent Acceptable Ads Committee. Economically, the CPM of an Acceptable Ads user was stated to be 30% below the average CPM at the time of the acquisition.
Compiled by commissioned research from 8 cited public sources — announcements, filings, and press listed under research sources below.
Key figures
latest reportedCompany-reported or press-reported figures, each dated to when it was claimed — not independently audited.
Timeline · 5
launches, deals, and filingsEyeo, parent company of AdBlock and Adblock Plus, acquired Blockthrough to expand into ad filtering and publisher monetization. The deal price was not disclosed; all of Blockthrough's roughly 50 employees joined eyeo, which had 250 people. A podcast episode describes the outcome as a bootstrapped exit of nearly $100 million.
Blockthrough co-founder and CEO Marty Krátký-Katz stepped aside from his role as president of the Acceptable Ads Committee in July 2022.
Blockthrough was named a winner of a Digiday Technology Award in 2022.
Blockthrough was recognized as an AdExchanger Programmatic Power Player in 2021.
Blockthrough acquired its direct rival PageFair, whose ad block reports it continued to publish.
Dated company events from announcements, filings, and press; legal rows summarize public dockets and regulator releases.
In the news
▸Research sources · 8
primary sources listed
- Blockthroughblockthrough.com · web
8 public sources were cited for this profile; the first-party ones are listed here.
Frequently asked questions
- What does Blockthrough do?
- Ad-filtering company that helps publishers recover revenue from ad-blocking users; acquired by eyeo in 2022.
- Who founded Blockthrough?
- Blockthrough was founded by Marty Krátký-Katz in 2015.
- Who are Blockthrough's investors?
- Blockthrough's investors include Frontline Ventures, Stardom.