iOS 9 Ad Blockers Speed Up Internet But Worry Online Publishers

iOS 9 which was released yesterday finally allows for 3^rd party apps aimed at blocking advertisements to be installed on Apple devices running the latest software

Anyone who read PageFair’s “Cost of Ad Blocking Software” report  back in August will not be surprised at just how quickly  content blocking software for iOS 9 has risen to the top of the app charts worldwide in less than a day. One of the major findings of the report, co-written with Adobe, was that ad blocking software use had grown by 48% in just one year.

The rise of ad blockers is a major concern for online advertisers, many of whom rely solely on online advertising to make their money. Web pages have to survive somehow. But for many, iOS was the last bastion where they were sure that users had to see their adverts.

The makers of AdBlock Plus, one of, if not the most popular ad blockers available,  have survived at least 2 legal challenges in court this year by online publishers directly challenging the software company.

Such victories are a win for free choice for users, but PageFair’s Ad Blocking Report also estimated that ad blocking will cost online publishers $22 billion in lost revenue in this year alone. Online publishers have made some moves recently to try and block adblockers from blocking their ads. American media sites like the Washington Post, and Hulu have made efforts to stop people with ad blockers installed from using their websites.

That said, testing of the newly available ad blockers for iOS 9, have been proven to load some news sites such as the New York Times, almost twice as fast, the news agency Reuters, reported.

Apple though, it seems is in a win-win situation. The tech company makes most of its profits on high end hardware sales. So while they might not openly promote ad blockers, they probably will not stand in the way of the  development and sale of them on the Apple Store. Whereas competitors such as Google are heavily reliant on revenue from online advertising, going as far as to  ban adblockers from the Android app store back in 2013.