Acceptable Ads is a technology-focused organization established in 2011 by the creators of AdBlock Plus, aiming to promote a sustainable and user-friendly online advertising ecosystem. The website serves as a platform to engage publishers, advertisers, and ad-filtering users by offering a standard for light and nonintrusive advertising. The business is positioned as a trusted intermediary in the online advertising space, with recognition from major media outlets and a clear focus on improving user experience.
Technically, the website is built on WordPress using modern frameworks such as Elementor and Astra theme, with integration of Google Analytics for visitor insights. The site demonstrates good SEO practices, mobile optimization, and basic accessibility features. Security posture is solid with HTTPS enforced and cookie consent mechanisms implemented, though there is room for improvement in security headers and explicit incident response documentation.
No critical vulnerabilities or suspicious content were detected. The domain registration is consistent with the business history and geographic location, enhancing trustworthiness. However, the absence of explicit contact emails and phone numbers, as well as missing terms of service and security policy pages, slightly reduce the overall credibility.
Strategically, Acceptable Ads should focus on enhancing transparency by publishing detailed security and incident response policies, enabling DNSSEC, and providing clear contact channels for security and abuse reporting. These steps will strengthen trust and compliance posture, supporting their role as a leader in ethical online advertising.
Scanned ·
NIS2 and GDPR posture
GDPR outside view
100/ 100 · Low
Checks completed
7of 7
NIS2 Art. 21(2)
a(a) Risk analysis and security policies: Not visible from outside
b(b) Incident handling: One indicator
c(c) Business continuity, backups and crisis management: Not visible from outside
d(d) Supply chain security: Not visible from outside
e(e) Secure acquisition, development and maintenance, including vulnerability handling: Partly checked
f(f) Assessing the effectiveness of security measures: Not visible from outside
g(g) Cyber hygiene and security training: Not visible from outside
h(h) Cryptography and encryption: Partly checked
i(i) HR security, access control and asset management: One indicator
j(j) Multi-factor authentication and secured communications: Not visible from outside
Partly checked
One indicator
Not visible from outside
This scan rated NIS2 with an earlier keyword method that is no longer shown; rescan for the per-article view. Risk management, continuity, supply chain, training, MFA, management oversight (Art. 20) and incident reporting (Art. 23) need internal evidence, and Guard cannot tell whether NIS2 applies to this organisation.
GDPR is indicative only, based on publicly visible signals: Articles 7, 12, 13 and 32 of Regulation (EU) 2016/679 and Article 5(3) of the ePrivacy Directive. Not a certification or legal assessment.
Priority findings
6 findings rated critical or high. Fix these first.
Security headers
Security headers are instructions your web server sends to every visitor’s browser. Missing ones leave visitors more exposed to attacks such as clickjacking and injected scripts.
High
Missing Strict-Transport-Security header
Forces HTTPS connections
What to do: Add "Strict-Transport-Security: max-age=31536000; includeSubDomains; preload"
This scan found 23 issues across 5 checks. Monitoring re-runs those checks daily, emails you when something material changes and records each fix, so you can show progress.
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TLS certificates and expiry
DNS records
SPF, DKIM and DMARC
Security headers
GDPR and NIS2 posture
Exposed services
Third-party trackers
Security score drift
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Results by check
Each check with its score, findings and the evidence it collected.
How this score is calculated
The security score runs 0–100, higher is better. It is the plain average of the security checks that completed in this scan, each counted equally. A check that could not run is left out: it counts neither as a pass nor as a fail.
Counted in this score
SSL/TLS
72
Security headers
15
Email security
70
DNS health
65
Network security
20
GDPR outside view
100
Average
57
Not counted
NIS2 outside view: Re-weights evidence from the TLS, email, DNS, network and hygiene checks, so counting it would count that evidence twice. Shown on its own.
OffSeq Observations: An AI reading of the site, useful context but not reproducible evidence. Shown on its own.
Findings that cap the score at 49
Each of these is serious on its own, so while any is present the site cannot rate better than high risk, however good the other checks are.
The certificate is not trusted by browsers
The website is not served over HTTPS
A database, remote desktop, file-sharing or Telnet service is reachable from the internet
The page loads a script from a compromised source
The domain registration has expired
SPF authorises every server to send mail as the domain
Partial scans
When the site blocks Guard or most checks cannot run, the score covers only the checks that ran (usually DNS and email), is capped at 75 and is shown as partial, without a risk level.
Risk levels
Critical0–25
High26–49
Medium50–75
Low76–100
Breach exposure
Leaked credentials and lookalike domains from OffSeq Breach. The counts are free; the detailed lists are paid add-ons.
Dark web exposure
Add-on
Leaked records that mention acceptableads.com, from OffSeq Breach.
No leaked records found
Breach holds no records for acceptableads.com right now. New leaks arrive continuously, so monitoring on Breach alerts you if that changes.
Business context, site observations and technical notes gathered during the scan, and the standards behind each reference.
Business context
Business profile
Acceptable Ads operates in the technology sector, specifically targeting the online advertising market with a unique value proposition of nonintrusive ads that are acceptable to users who employ ad blockers. Their business model revolves around setting standards and facilitating monetization for publishers and advertisers while respecting user experience. The company benefits from strong brand recognition and media coverage, positioning it as a key player in the ad-blocking ecosystem. Partnerships with entities like eyeo GmbH reinforce their market presence. Growth indicators include adoption by top ComScore and Alexa desktop properties. The company targets a niche audience of publishers, advertisers, and privacy-conscious users, leveraging a sustainable advertising approach.
Security posture
The website demonstrates a moderate to good security maturity level with HTTPS enforced and cookie consent mechanisms aligned with GDPR. However, the lack of DNSSEC, missing Content-Security-Policy headers, and absence of published security or incident response policies indicate gaps in security governance. No exposed sensitive data or vulnerable libraries were detected in the HTML content. The site does not provide explicit contact channels for security incidents or abuse reporting, which could hinder timely incident response. Overall, the security posture is adequate for the business type but would benefit from formalized policies and enhanced technical controls.
Recommendations
Enable DNSSEC on the domain to improve DNS security and prevent spoofing.
Publish a dedicated security policy and incident response page to enhance transparency and preparedness.
Implement Content-Security-Policy and other recommended security headers to mitigate common web vulnerabilities.
Provide explicit security and abuse contact emails to facilitate responsible vulnerability disclosure and incident reporting.
Regularly audit and update third-party libraries and plugins to minimize risk from vulnerabilities.
Site observations
Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.
Business
Company
Acceptable Ads
Description
Acceptable Ads allows publishers, advertisers and ad-filtering users to take part in a strong, sustainable online future. Together we are making online advertising better, while always promoting a superior user experience.
Key services
Acceptable Ads standard, Advertising platform for ad-blocking users
Content quality
good
Branding
consistent
Technology
Stack
WordPress, Elementor, PHP, jQuery, Google Analytics
Frameworks
Astra Theme, Elementor Page Builder
Platforms
WordPress CMS
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
basic
SEO
good
Security
Observed score
75/100
Good practices seen
HTTPS enforced
Cookie consent banner with opt-in
No exposed sensitive data in HTML
Analytics and tracking
Services
Google Analytics
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
good
Advertising
Transparency
good
Site quality
Design
good
User experience
good
Content relevance
good
Navigation
good
Professionalism
good
Trustworthiness
high
Key observations
Website is professionally designed and maintained.
Clear privacy and cookie policies with consent mechanisms.
No explicit contact emails or phone numbers found; contact via forms and application pages.
No terms of service page detected.
No explicit security or incident response policies published.
Use of modern WordPress technologies and SEO best practices.
No suspicious or malicious content detected.
Strong branding consistency and trust signals from media mentions.
Technical notes
Notes
The website is built on a modern WordPress CMS platform using the Astra theme and Elementor page builder, indicating a flexible and widely supported infrastructure. It integrates Google Analytics via gtag.js for visitor tracking and employs cookie consent management compliant with GDPR. The site shows good mobile responsiveness and SEO optimization with proper meta tags and structured data (JSON-LD). Performance is moderate, with potential improvements in caching and resource optimization. No critical technical debt or deprecated technologies were identified. Hosting provider details are not explicit, but domain registrar is RegistryGate GmbH. Overall, the technical setup supports the business goals effectively but could be enhanced with additional security and performance optimizations.
Standards and sources
Reference chips under each finding point to the standard, regulation or specification the finding relates to. They are taken from the official datasets below and mapped conservatively: a finding with no defensible link shows none. NIS2 and GDPR references mark where a finding is relevant evidence, not a compliance verdict. Implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/2690 binds digital infrastructure and digital service providers; for other entities it is the most detailed public reading of the Article 21 measures. WCAG, EN 301 549, European Accessibility Act and Web Accessibility Directive references name the requirement an automated accessibility rule relates to; they are not a conformance verdict.
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