What does Ad Blocking mean to Content Publishers as Apple stirs the hornets nest with iOS9

Since Apple has released iOS9 one feature seem to have struck a nerve. With this new version Safari has the ability to install ad-blocking apps that will, as the name suggests, prevent ads from appearing when browsing the web. iOS9 can be installed on older devices such as iPhone 4S, iPad Mini and so the ad-blocking potential is wider than just the latest Apple devices.

Content Publishers such as News Sites and Bloggers are upset as ads are a source of revenue but how much of a concern is this really ?

Slow down to a mild panic

Lets look at the facts.

Ad-blockers are not new. They might  be new or now easier to iOS community but the Android community has had ad-blocking ability with apps for years. Even with these ad-blocking apps being available, only a few tend to use these.  So unless your audience is exclusively Apple who actively switched ON the ad-blocking ability (by default it will be off), then chances that the impact will be low.

iOS9 has many great features which will be the focus of those upgrading and not specifically to block ads. iOS9 is just a platform that has the potential to block your ads its not set to block as a default setting.

Peace in Store

The top paid-for app in the Apple Store for 36 hours was an an blocking app called Peace. I said WAS as this ad-blocking app was removed from the store as its creator Marco Arment said that “Ad blockers come with an important asterisk: while they do benefit a ton of people in major ways, they also hurt some, including many who don’t deserve the hit.”

Arment pulled the app as he said that too many Publishers were being affected as the ad revenue for their site was being impacted by the software. It should not be a blanket approach.

To ad or not to ad – what is the question ?

So what is this really about ?

Lets look at the two camps. The Content Publisher (news/ blogs) and the Content Consumers (readers).

Content Publishers say that in order to have free content to read on the site, ads are infused into the articles and content which pay the bills. Therefore the reader gets the content for free and the “price” readers pay is seeing some ads.

Content Consumers say that having ads is not the issue. The underlying issue is that these ads track reader’s movement throughout the web using cookies so that advertisers can understand all their browsing habits and sites and send them more ads. Its a privacy thing. [note if you think its not happening, check out this tool to see how little control you have]

Believe it or not, people will pay for content. We have seen services that provide content with no ads such as Netflix, ShowMax, Vidi, Spotify spring to mind. You pay a monthly fee and for that you get content that is ad-free.  We have also seen this mode in the app world too. There are apps that are free but have banner ads but for a small price you can get an ad-free version of the same app.

Some news site instituted a pay-wall where some content was read for free but others you had to pay for. The problem was that most of the paid-for-content was readily available for free on other sites, so consumers did were not getting additional value. Those pay-wall sites like the New York Times that offered exclusive insights succeeded.

On the flip side the same people who pay for Neflix get their Facebook, Twitter and Gmail for free. When asked if they would pay to use Facebook, its not a unanimous yes…

Therefore, paid-for-content which is ad-free needs to be worthy of being paid for AND at the same time the old adage still holds true – if its free you are the product ie. don’t pay for content but put up with some ads.

Its the end of the free world as we know it

Apple didn’t create this issue but since Apple has stirred the hornets nest and since its Apple, well, people take notice. As mentioned , Ad blocking has been a possibility for a while now, however now that Apple has gotten involved, we can expect to see a general revival in the ad-blocking installers. If this happens, then smaller content publishers will run the risk of their ad-spend being cut down as they are delivering less ads. This means that some will shut down. Therefore less content on the web means that the pay-for pay wall sites have even more reason to charge for content that otherwise would have been freely available.

The adapt-or-die mentality is not so easy when your site is barely covering its cost with a bit of ad-spend. Some will adapt and create new revenue stream. Hopefully more will adapt the way they present their ads so less people will block these. But ultimately more will “die” as the  year-old ad model will no longer be sustainable.

What can Content Publishers do about Ad-blocking ?

Some Content Publishers are completely at fault here. They know that impression-based ads make them money so they ensure that ads are being displayed. Annoyingly so as they push ads to reader’s eyeballs in a manner that makes them want to block the ads. Bad examples are  sites who have automatically playing videos with sound and pop up ads with an obscure close button that forces the user to click on home-loan-funeral-Viagra ads before accessing content. This needs to stop or the ad-blocking camp really does have a valid reason to block your stuff.

Content Publisher need to be more creative about how ads are being used to monetise their site. Ads need to be carefully thought about verses the copy-and-paste everywhere approach there is today.

Content is still king and the reason the reader is there. Ads should be relevant and enhance not distract.

*headline images from Shutterstock.com