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Mobile Ad Blockers May Threaten Livelihood Of Media Websites

Consumers have long had the ability to block ads on their PCs, but now the ability to block ads has gone mobile. According to NBC News, the iOS 9 for iPhone and iPad released last week with a new category of apps available: ad blockers.

These apps block ads that pop up on websites while surfing the web in Apple’s Safari browser. For consumers who want faster load times and an uncluttered experience, the ads are a great addition to the mobile devices.

However, for many media companies those ads are what pay for the articles and videos the journalists create for the websites.

The technology to block ads has been around for years, but the apps available on Apple devices are new. These apps are simple to use; download one of the programs from the App store, set your Safari web browser to enable blocking, and say goodbye to ads.

Consumers who wish to block ads do so for a variety of reasons; clutter free browsing, faster load times on pages, and longer battery life on their mobile devices.

Developer of the ad-blocking app Crystal, Dean Murphy, feels that blocking ads could encourage publishers to create ads that are less taxing, according to The New York Times. “It’s mostly about performance,” said Murphy about ad blockers.

It’s just to improve websites in general and the advertising issues. It’s mostly about performance.

But for the media companies and many other websites who are supported by online ads, the ad blocker apps are a cause for worry. Without the ads and promotions, these websites could lose money, resulting in less content offered and dead business models.

Without the ads, “how do small indie publishers and small local news publishers sustain their online content?” questioned Scott Cunningham, general manager of the Interactive Advertising Bureau Tech Lab.

 If the economic engine is threatened, how do small indie publishers and small local news publishers sustain their online content?

Apple began releasing beta versions of its iOS9 in August, before finally releasing the finished operating system in late September.

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