Apple has equipped its devices, iPhones, iPads and Macs -- with features that prevent ads from appearing in its web browser, Safari. The company has most recently incorporated the ad blockers to its iOS 9 devices.
This is a move that challenges ad publishers which earn revenues from advertisements. The Washington Post cites search giant Google as one of the many publishers which will be affected by the ad blockers. Google is one of the biggest earners from ad postings.
Lifehacker has reported that the ad blockers caused a multibillion dollar loss in revenues of different websites which host advertisements. The website also stated that there are now almost 200 million users of ad blocker apps all over the world.
David Glance, Director for Software Practice at the University of Westen Australia, stated in his Lifehacker article that the move speeds up the death of online advertising. Glance also said that it is hard not to sympathize with advertisers at this time.
The rise of ad blocking apps, apart from Safari's feature, is poised to hit other advertisers hard, making them incur even bigger losses than those that have been reported. Early this year, analysts have ready predicted a surge in ad blocking apps.
Horace Dediu of Asymco was quoted in Fortune as saying, ""This is a cataclysmic potential event that's going to affect the whole ad industry." The earlier report has already indicated that ad blockers in iOS 9 will be catastrophic for publishers and advertisers.
Early in July, developers of ad blocking apps have shared their side on the matter in an article in Fortune. Eyeo is one such company, and the group's Ben Williams said that the iOS is a "new place" for the app. He added that the OS itself has properties that contribute to "sustainable ad blocking".
