Ad blockers are a pretty mundane slice of the corporate battlefield. They’re not nearly as exciting as a game-changing startup, nor do they have a cool title like the ‘corporate raiders’ in the 80's.
But increasingly, they’re at the heart of a titanic power shift in the internet landscape. With iOS 9 supporting ad blockers, there’s serious concern that the media-driven mobile web as we know it is about to end. Here’s what’s going on, and how you can ad-blocker-proof your next big online move.
The ad blocker situation
So here’s the situation. First, we need to get a handle on the money involved so we know the scale of this upset.
Google is the king of online advertising.
In 2014, they made $66 billion. 59.6 of those billion came from advertising revenue. Without ads, Google cannot function (to give you some idea of the number $66 billion, the 204 new streetcars that Toronto’s buying come in at
just over one billion total. So we could buy 13,260 new streetcars and still have a billion left over for a killer holiday party).
We’re talking about some serious cash here.
However, those enormous figures are set to get a whole lot smaller. First, the rise of smartphones has been moving users from desktops onto mobile screens for a while now, which
damages Google's revenue stream. But far more important is the ad blockers. They’ve been kicking around for years, but so far they’ve been relatively small time, but that’s starting to change.
When Apple released iOS 9, the latest version of its software for iPhone and iPad, it included the ability for app developers to create ‘content blockers’ that can be used to block apps. Shortly after the launch of the new software, ad blocking apps were 3 of the top 4 paid downloads in the App Store.
Apple also improved its mobile search capabilities, specifically:
- You can now search inside apps (which may not have Google ads)
- You can now search directly from Apple News (where there are no Google ads, but there are Apple ads)
- You can now block ads that appear on the mobile web entirely
Basically, if you’re searching for stuff on an iPhone, you can choose not to see ads. Unseen ads don’t make any money. So Apple’s seriously working to cut into Google’s ad revenue stream, a revenue stream responsible for 90% of their cash.
The concern
So that’s the situation. Now here’s the concern: Ad revenue is hugely important to Google. It’s how they pay for the whole show. The thing is, that show is pretty important to a functional internet.
First, they pay thousands and thousands of people to be able to constantly refine their search algorithm. The reason that you love to use Google search is that it costs a lot of money to keep it going. Second, they run a lot of datacentres. Datacentres are the infrastructure of the internet. If
900,000 were to suddenly go bankrupt, it’d be a big loss to the whole community.
But mostly, Google ads provide a revenue stream to small-time websites. Remember: Google is taking a
slice of advertising revenue – the producer of the content gets a slice as well.
Blogs, alternative media, online magazines – there are literally billions of small publishers who make their money from ad revenue through Google ads. Without them they’d have to go off and do something else instead of making content for us to enjoy.
That’s where we’re at now. Google’s ads are the key to a profitable internet. And profit means creativity and content and beautiful photos and words and vlogs and experiences. Ad blockers are set to change that.
Of course, to vilify Apple is unfair. By allowing developers to create ad blocking software for mobile devices, they’ve given users the ability to
cut down on their load times and data consumption when visiting mobile sites, which is an increasingly important factor in today’s landscape.
Consider the following chart, comparing normal mobile load times and load times with an iOS 9 ad blocker (
Crystal) installed:
When you look at it that way, ad blockers are a huge improvement to mobile user experience.
And on the flipside, if the internet advertising world was a little less monopolized, this wouldn’t be a big a problem.
Also, Google doesn’t make their search so good out of the goodness of their heart – they do it because if people can’t find stuff online, they’re not going to go online, and less browsers means less ad revenue.
So there’s no one single bad guy here. Rather, there are two giants lumbering to war, and a lot of folks in the way looking suspiciously like collateral damage.
How to ad-block-proof your next digital move
With all this going on, and with the very real possibility that the internet is about to change dramatically, how can you keep your digital advertising campaigns alive?
Here are a couple of ideas.
Publish top quality content
Of course you’re probably doing this already. But if you’re relying on ads to get people to your site, and those ads might not be around much longer, then you’ll need some other way to drive traffic. Namely, they’ll have to want to go there.
So get producing!
Start affiliate marketing
‘Affiliate’ tends to be a dirty word, and bring up images of compromised integrity to make a quick buck. But that’s not the case at all. Just select a few products you or your team already use, and offer to share with your audience.
The aforementioned products will be so excited that they’re being talked about, and you can actually make a little money on the side.
Guest blogging
Guest blogging has been used by bloggers and publishers for years. It’s a mutually beneficial situation, where you offer your expert advice on another platform, or get someone to do the same on your own site. It’s a huge increase in audience size, and is a great way to drive traffic to your site, sans ads.
An alternative is to write for publications within your niche – trade magazines, for example. They get fresh content, and you get more exposure. While the payoff isn’t as direct as digital advertising, it’s always an option if you’re seeing your web traffic drop.
Make an app
Of course, a vacuum doesn’t last long. We can assume that something is going to take the place of the advertisement-driven media that’s online right now. And given the exponential growth of the Play Store and the App Store, plus the fact that iOS 9 lets you search in apps, they might be just the thing to fill the void.
So if your traffic is dependent on advertising, then
it might be time to get your name into the App store.
Advertise on other platforms
These changes don’t mean an end to all advertising online – just the advertising that Google has a hand in. Social media promotion via promoted posts is one example of a channel to reach customers that’s relatively untouched as of right now. If social media advertising isn’t a big part of what you do, it might be time to change that.
Move your business to Apple
Last but not least, Apple has its own advertising platform, iAd, for its own in-app advertising network, as well as Apple News (only in the U.S. for now), where you can advertise to mobile users, 100% unblocked. Food for thought, we think.
Conclusion
There’s likely to be some serious changes to the web over the next few months. Changes that could potentially see independent publishers pushed out, and a huge shift in power (and revenue) from Google to Apple. It’s a bold move on Apple’s part. But we think that the internet has more resilience then that. And so does Google. This is the start of what could be a vicious battle, but we think that like every single Silicon Valley war previously, the internet will continue to march on. Free, unburdened, an endless outlet for creativity and innovation.
But hey, we’re optimists here at Moveable.
