Apple to Introduce Mobile Ad-Blocking Capability

Everyone always gets excited with Apple’s big keynotes and product announcements. But tomorrow’s announcement is causing a bit of panic for publishers and companies alike – the introduction of mobile ad blocking. It’s been widely reported that Apple will introduce mobile ad blocking capability into Safari when it unveils iOS9 tomorrow. The reasons why would be quite simple. From a user experience standpoint, it’s a no-brainer. Who likes looking at ads on their phone? Well, publishers like you to look at ads. And so do companies that pay to get in front of new eyeballs. So what will this mean for those parties? The first thing to do is calm down. It’ll be important to wait and see which types of ads these blockers will prevent from showing up and how effective they’ll be. Let’s assume the worst… For companies who regularly advertise on mobile (which is probably most companies with a solid marketing plan), this new change stresses the reliance of having a solid brand. With that in place, advertising isn’t as vital. It’s also incredibly important to have a flexible marketing strategy. If you notice big drops in mobile, you’ll need to quickly adjust to other venues or vice versa. The change will also push companies to try different types of marketing. (Facebook might become the big winner in all this as businesses scramble to get those mobile views.) This issue also highlights the big-picture differences between the two mobile giants – Apple and Google. Apple wants content delivered through apps it approves, so it can control the UX. In addition, Apple sells ads through those apps – so it gets a cut of the proceeds. In contrast, Google pushes users to the mobile web for obvious reasons. Google dominates the ad market there – even if the UX isn’t as enjoyable. We’ll see which side eventually wins out.