Facebook will begin showing ads on the desktop version of the site even to people who use ad-blocking software.

The company's Vice President of ads and business platform, Andrew Bosworth, announced the new plan to tackle ad-blockers in a statement.

The new page-loading protocol works by making Facebook's ads almost indistinguishable from Facebook content, therefore preventing ad blockers from working on its site.

The change will only apply to desktop - which is just a fraction of Facebook’s revenue and audience and only some desktop ads will be blocked. Paid media slots, like sponsored posts in Facebook’s news feed, will remain unaffected.

Bosworth said that the change forces ad blockers to choose between not blocking ads or severely undermining the user experience. The change is "a matter of principle" according to Bosworth.

"Facebook is a free service and ads support our mission of giving people the power to share and making the world more open and connected."

Ad Preferences from Facebook on Vimeo.

Along with this change, the company have also introduced a new feature to allow users to customise the ads that they do and do not want to see. 

"We’ve introduced tools to help people control their experience, improved how we decide which ads to show and created new ad formats that complement, rather than detract from, people’s experience online.

"When they’re relevant and well-made, ads can be useful, helping us find new products and services and introducing us to new experiences."

Adblock Plus, a well known ad-blocking service called the decision a "dark path against user choice"

"This is an unfortunate move...but it’s also no reason to overreact: cat-and-mouse games in tech have been around as long as spammers have tried to circumvent spam filters.”