“Apple has approved a piece of software for its digital store that enables iPhone users to block advertisements from appearing in mobile apps such as those of Facebook, Yahoo and The New York Times,” Robert Cookson reports for The Financial Times. “Been Choice was launched in the US this month and is more powerful than other types of adblocking software on the market, which are only able to eliminate ads from web pages. The service even prevents Apple delivering ads to its own News app.”
“‘We’re getting into dangerous territory,’ said Ciaran O’Kane, chief executive of Exchange Wire, a digital media analysis company. ‘If app developers can’t make money, there’s going to be a kick back,'” Cookson reports. “Marketers will spend almost $69bn this year on mobile ads, according to research group eMarketer.”
“To make money, Been Choice plans to allow users to sell their data through the app. The company is offering to pay people $20 a month if they consent to being shown ads and allow Been Choice to collect information about how they use their devices,” Cookson reports. “Mr Yoon said the company gives users ‘a clear choice’ about whether they want to block ads or share in the value created by their data.”
“The ethics of adblocking has spurred intense debate in recent weeks. Marco Arment, creator of Peace, a popular adblocker for the Safari web browser, last month pulled its software from Apple’s app store,” Cookson reports. “Mr Arment wrote in a blogpost explaining the decision that while blockers ‘benefit a ton of people in major ways, they also hurt some [including many media companies] that don’t deserve to be hit.'”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Bring it on! The quicker the shit hits the fan, the quicker the solutions will arise.
SEE ALSO:
Apple’s ad-blocking move causes big problems for retailers’ online stores – September 24, 2015
Rush Limbaugh: What Apple’s iOS 9 ad-blockers will unleash – September 21, 2015
iOS 9 adblocker apps top App Store charts; developer pulls ‘Peace’ adblocker – September 18, 2015
iOS 9 content blocking will transform the mobile Web – August 24, 2015
Apple’s iOS 9 ad blocking threatens Google’s lifeblood – August 14, 2015
Apple News shows that Apple wants to bolster and profit from ads, not eliminate them – July 10, 2015
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Arline M.” for the heads up.]