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As more and more Internet users use ad block technology, the ad industry becomes increasingly restless and claims that ad blocking triggers billion-dollar losses and may even soon lead to the Internet’s demise. But the industry has a secret weapon – it is currently testing a technology to circumvent traditional ad-blockers.
Since the dawn of the Internet there was an unspoken pact between users and content providers that there’s a price for free content – the annoying pop-up ads. But in the meanwhile, ad blocking technology became very popular since it saves a lot of bandwidth and shields users from a perfectly-preventable nuisance.
On the other hand, ads are the underlying engine of everything you see or watch online. Ads are content providers aka websites’ raison d’être. Plus, they led to many useful technologies that without the ad industry would have never be created. But, users are growing tired of being constantly profiled, tracked, and interrupted by invasive ads.
Plus, some of the best ad blocking solutions are absolutely free and compatible with most web-browsers. An ad blocker puts on a leash those pesky ads that interrupt you in the most inopportune moments.
Additionally, ad blockers save a lot of RAM and browsers usually perform better because they do not have to wait for the ads to be downloaded. So, no wonder that people are so interested in the technology.
Moreover, the ad industry is concerned that after ad blocking app developers would roll out apps for mobile devices, the situation may get a lot worse. For now, only ad blockers for desktops are available.
Advertisers believe that, as people find out about ad blockers, they would not be able anymore to deliver their marketing materials to their target audience, so they may as well go out of business. But if they stop paying for ads, websites may soon run out of their main source of revenue. So, that may be a problem to the Internet itself.
Fortunately, advertisers are currently working on a technology that dodges ad blockers.
PageFair, an Ireland-based ad-blocker tracking firm, announced that ad blockers cost the industry $22 billion in revenue every year with about 200 million Internet users using the programs. And if that figure rises the losses may be even greater.
On the other hand, PageFair’s reporting may be exaggerated since the firm has a stake in the game. Its developers are working on a software that would make ads untraceable by ad-blockers. The company declined to provide more details on the software but it would use a “low-level networking” method to circumvent conventional ad blockers.
In the meantime, Apple announced that its iOS 9 may also support ad blocking technology. Since many developers are currently working on adblockers for Apple devices, the industry had better hurry. On mobile devices, ad blockers do not only make browsers run faster but they also save precious bandwidth and battery life.
Image Source: Google Chrome
