14 DAY TRIAL // If you've browsed around Apple's iOS App Store, you have probably seen the huge popularity content blockers have had lately.
The interesting thing is that, despite their popularity, iOS ad blockers have also managed to spark a lot of discussion, with people trying to decide if they are an ethical way to deal with the more-often-than-not intrusive ads that some ad networks stick next to content published by both big and small publishers.
Marco Arment, the man behind Peace, the most popular ad blocker on the App Store right after Apple's content blocking green light, removed it after just two days even though it was the top app in the App Store Paid Top Charts.
He explained his moral dilemma in a blog post, saying that he wasn't prepared to take all the heat from publishers who feel that one of their main revenue streams, the ads displayed on mobile devices, is being removed without any warning.
Apple gets to clean their platform, publishers and developers behind content blocking tools get to fight the war
The most surprising thing about all this is that no one seems to point any fingers at the Cupertino tech giant, even though it was Apple's decision to allow content blocking apps in the iOS App Store that started it all.
The reason this is happening is that, although publishers know that ad blockers hurt their business, they’ve also been aware for a long time that users hate ads that get in the way of the content, trying to be as hard to avoid or ignore as possible.
Their problem is that the decision to allow ad blockers on their iOS devices is probably directly linked to Apple's desire to provide their users with a platform free of annoyances.
The fact that their latest iPhone models app engagement rates are larger than ever and the omnipresence of ad blocking tools on both desktop and mobile platforms could be another cause of Apple's determination in forcing content publishers to find new revenue streams.
Keeping their customers' experience free of annoyances would further drive the app engagement rate, and by making ad blockers available on their iOS platform, Apple makes sure that nothing stays between the users and the content.
Since ads might become extinct in the near future, Apple's move could coerce most publishers into finding new sources of income, such as sponsored posts (also known as promoted content), which at least aren't perceived as a nuisance the way traditional ads are.
