Apple's Mobile Ad Blocking Isn't Just A Danger to Google

[onehandle]

Anyone who makes money from advertising should be worried. Very worried. The next version of Apple's mobile software will allow users to block ads as part of their mobile browser pages. The new feature threatens to upend very workings of the media business.

The technology known as iOS 9 is coming next month to owners of Apple's mobile devices. The ad-blocking feature will allow users to opt out of ads appearing on web pages as well as prevent those same advertisers and their partners from tracking which sites those users visited. Tracking helps advertisers determine which ads to show them in the future.

Users will be rewarded with much faster page loading times and cleaner looking pages, which may be especially appealing given that smart phone offer much smaller screens than those on a desktop computer. If Apple's ad-blocking is widely embraced- and it appears that Apple will aggressively promote it -- the ramifications for marketers and advertising agencies could be enormous.

Chief among them is Google which generates virtually all of its profits from advertising. Not only could Apple's ad-blocking put a major dent into Google's revenue, it could forever alter what users expect the mobile Web. If Apple users can suddenly enjoy much faster loading times compared to Android users, will Android users put up with that for long? Will they ask for something similar from Android - or stop using Android altogether?

http://www.thestreet.com/story/13271302/1/apple-s-ad-blocking-isn-t-just-a-danger-to-google.html

I can't wait.

Related:

Report: 75 Percent Of Google’s Mobile Search Revenue Comes From Apple Devices
http://searchengineland.com/report-75-percent-of-googles-mobile-search-revenue-comes-from-apple-devices-221722

Google is fucked.

[still_one]

1. They all ready have blocking software on browsers.

[NutmegYankee]

4. One of my favorite plug-ins in Firefox is adblock plus.

[still_one]

5. agreed

[Kelvin Mace]

6. Except on ipads

I have had to stop going to some sites on my iPad because full video ads will pop up, which don't show up on my main PC with Firefox.

[corkhead]

10. I am using a browser called Ad-Blocker on my ipad and iphone and it works great.

look for it in the app store. buck up and buy the full version. it's worth it, although it looks like Apple is going to make it obsolete.

[Kelvin Mace]

12. Thanks for the advice.

[djean111]

2. Should be interesting to see how this affects political ads. nt

[stevenleser]

3. While this seems good, I worry about the unintended consequences.

We'll see.

[JCMach1]

7. Well, websites that subsist on ad revenue could perhaps then block IOS9

from using their sites...

New screen coming soon to you... IOS Must Enable Ads to view this site!

[frylock]

8. This Android user has been enjoying an ad-free experience for years.

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2190753

[Xithras]

9. Next up, the return of paywalls.

Nothing on the Internet is free. If you don't want ads to pay for a service, the money has to come from somewhere else.

The last time the ad market collapsed (circa 2001), there was a sharp spike in the number of paywall sites and content networks requiring paid subscriptions to access their pages. A LOT of people were predicting the death of the "free" Internet back then because of it. Only the resurgence of the online advertising market stopped it from happening.

Until now, ad blockers were only used by a relatively small percentage of web users. If those numbers expand, we'll see a repeat of the online ad market crash, and we'll probably head back down the road toward ubiquitous paywalls or mandatory content network memberships.

Is that really a better world?

[stevenleser]

11. Yup, exactly to what I alluded up-thread re: Unintended consequences.

It seems great to be able to block the ads until a bunch of the websites you found useful fold or start charging for access.