Most importantly, last month Three, a big mobile operator, announced
that it is planning to install ad-blocking technology in its British and
Italian networks.
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But on closer inspection, it is too soon to write the obituary of mobile
advertising, says Dean Bubley, a telecoms consultant. More than half
the time, smartphone users connect to the internet using Wi-Fi, so they
will still get ads even if their mobile operator blocks them. What is
more, the fastest-growing sort of mobile advertising is “native”,
meaning indistinguishable from other types of content, and sometimes
even encrypted. That makes network-based blocking hard, if not
impossible.
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Then there are legal and commercial hurdles. Three is planning to let
subscribers opt into its ad-blocking service, which is based on
technology developed by Shine, an Israeli startup. But that may still
run afoul of “network neutrality” rules, which require that all sorts of
online traffic, including ads, should be treated equally. To be on the
safe side, the service is likely to be offered directly through Shine.
