Now, ad-blocker as standard?
At a presentation session on Wednesday for developers of Edge, which will come as standard with Windows 10 and replace Internet Explorer, Microsoft apparently came to reveal in one of the slides that it was planning to include an ad-blocker extension in the next version of the browser. The information was later clarified and corrected by Microsoft (they are just opening the possibility to install ad-blocking extensions, like pretty much any other browser does by now), but had it been true, it would have been an important development: lest we forget, we’re talking here about the default browser for Windows, the most popular operating system on the planet for PCs.
This could have been an strategic play that reflected the growing trend among the public to install ad-blockers on their browsers. We should take into account that Microsoft has pulled out of the advertising market after taking a full writedown for its $6.2 billion investment after it bought aQuantive in 2007, and will doubtless have been watching Apple, which has been allowing ad-blocker extensions since the middle of 2015: in short, it would make some sense if Microsoft could try to offer its customers the best browsing experience, while at the same time delivering a potentially killer blow to one of its biggest competitors.
Who knows what the impact of all this could be on the advertising industry? Blocking advertisements is fast developing from being a rebellion of the masses to something the corporate world, in the form of Apple and Microsoft, along with some telecom operators, is sitting up and taking notice of by removing offending online publicity from the gaze of their customers. We’ve moved from a situation where only a handful of the tech savvy were able to install an ad-blocker to another where simply by purchasing a computer, or working for a company, or attending a school or college, or even just by signing up to a particular internet provider, you can enjoy an advertisement-free internet experience. Web sites and the advertising industry are going to have to come up with something pretty good if they’re going to get round this one. And it’s going to require more than just piling up more artillery.
Watch this (advertising-free) space.
(En español, aquí)
