A contentious panel at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona brought executives from the ad industry and Google face-to-face with Roi Carthy, the CMO of Shine, the mobile ad blocker startup. Earlier this
month, Shine signed its first European carrier, Three Group, which will implement its ad blocking tech in multiple markets — starting with the UK and Italy. Shine also has signed Caribbean
operator, Digicel, which rolled out the mobile ad blocking tech last year. "Google’s Benjamin Faes, MD, media & platforms, decried the rise of ad blockers and Shine’s network
level blocker tech specifically, — arguing such moves risk the free content ecosystem that he argued has been allowed to flourish online thanks to publishers’ content
being supported by ads," according to TechCrunch. "Blocking all ads is 'diminishing' to the overall experience, said Faes, pointing out that four of the top 10 videos on YouTube last year
were ads." Nestle’s
Pete Blackshaw, VP, digital & social media contended that while mobile is
a challenge for the ad industry it’s also an opportunity to rethink its marketing methods and transparency ethics: “There are opportunities to really think through how we
communicate that value exchange," Blackshaw said.
Read the whole story at TechCrunch »
