North American newspapers are taking on ad blockers with a complaint to the US federal trade commission.

The NAA's Complaint and Request for Investigation alleges certain ad blocking technologies and related services violate Section 5 of the FTC Act as unfair and deceptive trade practices.

The complains targets ad blockers that offer 'paid whitelisting', substitute ad blockers' own advertising for blocked ads, claim that subscription services prevent publisher harm, and facilitate the evasion of metered subscription systems.

President and chief executive Davis Chavern says that while newspapers recognise that ad blocking technology is responding to a consumer demand, some ad blocking firms have implemented ad blocking business models that deceive consumers: "These practices undercut our members' ability to provide a satisfying customer experience because the consumer is not receiving the whole truth," he says.

The complaint calls on the FTC to investigate Eyeo's practice of using paid whitelisting that misleads the consumer into believing the 'acceptable' advertisement is based on quality, when in fact advertisements are passed along to consumers if advertisers pay a fee. The complaint also draws attention to ad blocking technologies that replace existing advertising with the ad blockers' own advertising, which misleads consumers into believing that publishers have consented to the substitution.

It also requests investigation of subscription services that claim to offset publisher harm, a deceptive assertion given the complete lack of evidence that nominal subscription prices will recover millions of dollars in lost advertising revenue. Finally, the complaint calls attention to ad blockers that permit users to evade metered subscription services and paywalls, which are engaging in an unfair method of competition.

"The deceptive activities of these ad blockers undercut publishers' ability to innovate and respond to customer demands, and preempt publishers' efforts to communicate with consumers about the importance of advertising or alternative mechanisms for supporting high-quality journalism content," said Chavern.

NAA represents almost 2000 newsmedia businesses in the US and Canada.