By Steven Wise
The potential for rampant ad blocking can be a daunting prospect for the US$140bn a year online advertising business. This is especially true for publishers whose businesses hinge on their ability to deliver ad messages to their audiences.
While ad blocking software for desktop browsers has been available for years, it hasn’t had a dramatic impact on how publishers monetise ads. However, in the last few months, industry chatter over ad blocking has risen substantially thanks to some new developments from Apple.
Ad blocking comes in a various forms
Earlier this month Apple introduced the latest generation of iPhones, along with a new mobile operating system, iOS 9, which allows ad blocking plug-ins. Within days of the release, ad blocking apps became among the most downloaded category in the Apple App Store. The top selling ad blocker in the iTunes Store is Crystal, a top 10 app selling for $0.99. 1Blocker is a popular alternative which is free with limits or $2.99 for the full feature version.
Typical ad blockers suppress banner ads, popups, and autoplay videos. For end users, the obvious benefit is a less cluttered browsing experience. But there can be secondary benefits as well, like faster page loading, less data usage, and better battery life on their smartphones.
Recent Comments