NDM WEEK 22 (i)

Mobile operator Three to introduce adblocking

http://www.theguardian.com/media/2016/feb/19/mobile-operator-three-ad-blocking
Mobile company Three is to introduce adblocking across its UK and Italian networks, making it the first major European operator to do so. Three has struck a deal with Israeli company Shine that will see the mobile adblocking technology introduced in the UK and Italy, followed by a “rapid roll-out” across its operations in other countries. The move is cause for serious concern for digital publishers and advertisers, which are already dealing with a rising number of people who block advertising when they use their phones.

• Customers pay data charges so they should not then receive ads, costs which the company says advertisers should be made to pay.
• Some advertising aims to elicit customer data and information without them knowing.
• Customers should only receive relevant advertising and not have their mobile experience “degraded by excessive, intrusive, unwanted or irrelevant ads”

Three said its move to implement network-wide adblocking is not an attempt to “eliminate” all mobile advertising, but to “give customers more control, choice and greater transparency over what they receive”. The company, which has 9 million UK customers, said a network-wide adblocking strategy is better than relying on apps because it “reaches a broader range of mobile adblocking”.