One of the more interesting analyses of the Adblock Plus/ Firefox blocking controversy is that it is, in itself, simply a method of generating links and traffic.

The theory goes something like this: although Firefox users represent a small minority of the overall web-using population, they are extremely vocal in proportion to their size. By stirring them up, the creators of sites such as WhyFirefoxIsBlocked.com can virtually guarantee themselves a large amount of traffic and inbound links – essential for generating and maintaining Google PageRank, which in itself becomes a valuable commodity, should the site’s owners decide to sell links.

The level of publicity associated with such a strategy is pretty much guaranteed, because although Firefox users are a small minority in the overall web using population, they represent a much larger segment of the total set of individuals who are active bloggers. Anything that upsets them –especially if they feel it has infringed their right to surf wherever and whenever they like, free of charge – is bound to get tons of coverage in blog posts. That coverage will be overwhelmingly negative, but from the point of view of the value of the links, that’s irrelevant. A few bloggers may have the foresight not to place links in their posts to sites like WhyFirefoxIsBlocked.com, but they are likely to be in a minority.

Additionally – the argument goes – the creators of the controversy, who are likely to be basing their own ultimate model on ad revenues, can afford to upset Firefox users because they have been shown to be relatively immune to online advertising.