The British mobile network provider, Three, will be trialling an ‘advertising block’ over a 24 hour period in June. It will be an opt-in trial available for customers between the 13th and 20th of June.
Shine, an ad-blocking start-up company, will be responsible for providing the technology. Approximately 95% of adverts are expected to be blocked, something that has angered certain ad agencies.
Of course, if the concept became popular with other network providers, then this could certainly harm businesses and ultimately result in costs increasing for consumers. On the other hand, users would possibly have a better and faster online experience. This is definitely true when browsing websites with more than three adverts.
It’s rather simple to download software which can block many adverts, this is true weather you’re using a smartphone or computer. However, network-level blocking is something very different.
Steve Chester, a key member of the Internet Advertising Bureau states that; “a lighter, less invasive ad experience” was a more realistic approach.
“We’re all committed to solving the ad-blocking issue but disagree with Three’s approach that network-level ad-blocking is the way to go,” he said.
“It’s a broad-brush approach that the largest media owners can probably survive but not the smaller ones.
“In the long-term consumers will also lose out, as they’ll most likely have to pay for services that are currently free because they’re supported by advertising.”
Do you think this is a good idea? Would you welcome this idea on your network? Do you hate adverts? Would you be willing to pay more to have an ad-free internet browsing experience? These are key questions that we should all consider with this concept. Feel free to leave your comments in the box further down the page.