Adblock Plus Returns To Android and Arrives On iPhone For First Time

Mickeycaskill writes: Adblock Plus has returned to Android — two and a half years after ad blocking services were removed from Google Play — and has been released on iOS for the first time. Adblock Browser for Android has been in beta since late May, with well over 300,000 people downloading the beta in the browser's first week. Meanwhile the arrival of the app on iPhone means developer Eyeo has beaten Apple to the punch, as the company has confirmed iOS 9 will feature an adblocker built into Safari. "With the popularity of the iOS platform in places like the US, we considered it critical to offer an app in the Apple App Store," said Till Faida, co-founder of Adblock Plus. "We're thankful to Apple for working with us on this project and we look forward to their new iOS 9, which will give web developers additional ad-blocking tools. It's a big step for this industry."

Comments

Awesome

[Anonymous Coward]

I hope that puts the final nail into the coffin of online advertising.

Re:Awesome

[cyn1c77]

I'm not using an app right now. It's extremely easy for me to just go to a competing site if you don't want donations or paywalls.

There are very few sites that will publish content out of the goodness of their hearts. If they can't get paid through advertising, then it's apps or paywalls or something but not free.

Don't get me wrong; I use adblock and never see ads. So I guess I'm a hyopcrite. But if online advertising can't unltimately make money somehow we're gonna have a very different web on our hands.

Like it would really matter if 90% of the advertisement-supported web disappeared.

Where would we be?

Back to the newsgroups that we had originally... which arguably was better than the highly predatory environment that it's evolved into today.

Re:Awesome

[Ol Olsoc]

I'm not using an app right now. It's extremely easy for me to just go to a competing site if you don't want donations or paywalls.

There are very few sites that will publish content out of the goodness of their hearts. If they can't get paid through advertising, then it's apps or paywalls or something but not free.

Don't get me wrong; I use adblock and never see ads. So I guess I'm a hyopcrite. But if online advertising can't unltimately make money somehow we're gonna have a very different web on our hands.

I actually don't think you are a hypocrite. When a web page takes a minute ot load on a fast service, only because it's ramming a little story, and many megs of ads, it starts to become a real mess. And when a fair amount of that is malware pretending to be an ad, it becomes an arms race.

I think we are reaching a tipping point, when Websites are finding out that there is going to be a choice. Go out of business because people are blocking your ads, or go out of business because no one wants to visit a page with 50 scripts, a bunch of trackers and analytics, and all the malware you'd ever not want. And it isn't even a security thing for some folks. It's so much loading time that an unprotected machine might take so long ot load a page, they assume it's frozen.

I block ads for the same reason I don't invite methods into the house.

I'll remove adblock when sites start acting responsibly. Then I'll see all their ads. What a concept.

Re:Awesome

[mjwx]

I actually don't think you are a hypocrite. When a web page takes a minute ot load on a fast service, only because it's ramming a little story, and many megs of ads, it starts to become a real mess. And when a fair amount of that is malware pretending to be an ad, it becomes an arms race.

And when your telco has a small data quota, it literally costs money to see ads.

Firefox for Android + uBlock Origin

[LichtSpektren]

I am just wondering what advantages I get from the Adblock Browser over using Firefox for Android with uBlock Origin (or Adblock Plus/Edge if you prefer)? TFA doesn't seem to enlighten me.