

iOS 9 Ad Blocker Benchmarks - murphyapps
http://murphyapps.co/blog/2015/8/22/crystal-benchmarks

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wiremine
The question I have: what's the advertisers' next move after iOS 9 drops?

Feels like there are a few possibilities:

\- Nothing: the impact of users who install these plugins is minor.

\- They sue Apple. Feels like a short game.

\- Try and game the system: multiple domains to serve trackers and ads, etc.

\- They adjust their technology stack to serve fewer ads and reduce page
bloat.

\- They put up paywalls.

\- They bet more heavily on things like Facebook or Apple's new News app.

Of the options, #1 and #4 feel like the most likely options long-term. People
want free content, which requires _some_ sort of revenue stream. And they
don't want to put their futures in the hands of Apple or Facebook.

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stevesearer
This might be a dumb question, but I am a web publisher and have no idea what
you mean about changes to iOS 9. Is there an ad blocker installed
automatically or something? What is changing and what does it mean for a
publisher like myself who self hosts ads I personally sell without using an ad
network?

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wfleming
There is a new content blocking API in iOS 9 that makes it possible to write
third-party ad-blockers.

Apple isn't writing their own, or pre-installing one, or anything like that.
(At least, nothing like that has been publicly discussed, and I'd be very
surprised if it was something they did.)

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anonyfox
Seems that there are only massive benefits to use a blocker. And a good chunk
of the most valuable audience will be gone in a matter of a few weeks...
Whatever hurts the advertising industry increases the pressure to find _real_
business models. This is a win-win for everyone.

And whoever cries that is site/app doesn't make enough cash any longer, didn't
have something _valuable_ at the first place. No one will bat an eye.

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MBCook
I'd love to see some sort of benchmark for what this does to battery life.

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ak39
Would the same benchmark results be evident using AdBlock and AdBlockPlus
currently on Chrome? Does anyone know?

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derefr
I would note that you could actually do this on iOS now without a Safari-
specific API—the opening-up of VPN APIs in iOS9 means something like an iOS
Privoxy could be written quite easily.

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coldcode
I wonder if websites dependent on ads will start blocking access from iOS 9
and OS X because of this.

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threeseed
Apple has claimed 55% of US mobile browser usage and 10.5% of desktop. And
those customers tend to have a much higher socioeconomic status and a
proclivity to spend money.

Would you really want to block access to them ?

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radley
How well it work compared to Weblock?

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camhenlin
Would like to see this or another tool open sourced so I could install it on
my iPhone

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greglindahl
Apple is providing a new OS service that's relatively easy for devs to use...
so yes, there will be plenty of free apps that hook this new service up to
existing blocklists.

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redb3ard
Closed source "ad blocker" is a bad idea.

Your icon is cute, but the stats are unverifiable and therefore you need to
change the title.

Unless you've paid to be on YC, in which case carry on.

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sp332
It's just an ad, don't worry about it.

