EU carriers plan to block ads, demand money from Google

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Multiple mobile operators in Europe plan to block advertising on their networks, with one of them planning to target Google's ad network to force the company to give up a cut of its ad revenue, according to a report yesterday in the Financial Times.

"An executive at a European carrier confirmed that it and several of its peers are planning to start blocking adverts this year," the newspaper reported. "The executive said that the carrier will initially launch an advertising-free service for customers on an opt-in basis. But it is also considering a more radical idea that it calls 'the bomb', which would apply across its entire network of millions of subscribers at once. The idea is to specifically target Google, blocking advertising on its websites in an attempt to force the company into giving up a cut of its revenues."

Blocking ads "just for an hour or a day" might be enough to bring Google to the negotiating table, the executive told the newspaper.

While such a scheme might violate net neutrality rules in the United States, Europe doesn't have anything comprehensive on the books despite years of discussion.

"There are no clear rules on net neutrality today at EU level, leaving 96 percent of Europeans without legal protection for their right to access the full open Internet," the European Commission said.

Google sent a response to Ars, which said, “People pay for mobile internet packages so they can access the apps, video streaming, webmail and other services they love, many of which are funded by ads. Google and other Web companies invest heavily in developing these services—and in the behind-the-scenes infrastructure to deliver them.”

The blocking technology was developed by a company called Shine. "The software prevents most types of advertising from loading in web pages and apps, though it does not interfere with 'in-feed' ads of the kind used by Facebook and Twitter," the Financial Times wrote.

Shine confirmed it is working with a number of mobile operators but declined to identify them, according to the report.

In 2013, the French ISP Free turned on ad-blocking by default but suspended the practice after controversy.

Source: http://arstechnica.com/business/2015/05/eu-carriers-plan-to-block-ads-demand-money-from-google/