Less than two days after going on sale in the App Store, Peace, the iOS9 mobile ad blocker, has been pulled by its creator.
On Friday, Marco Arment, the programmer behind the software, said that achieving so much success with Peace “just doesn’t feel good.”
In a blog post, Arment said that although ad blockers benefit many people, they also hurt others – assumedly referring to both advertisers and publishers.
“Peace required that all ads be treated the same – all-or-nothing enforcement for decisions that aren’t black and white,” he said. “This approach is too blunt.”
Arment added that positive change could only come from a more “nuanced, complex approach.”
Ad blocking is fast turning into a major headache for both brands and publishers, with an IAB study revealing that almost one in seven (15%) British adults online currently use ad blocking software, while 22% have downloaded the software at some point.
In the UK, of those currently using ad blocking software, 80% are doing so on laptops, 46% on desktop PCs, and 19% on tablets or mobiles.
However, in what may come as a relief to advertisers, only just over half (52%) of those who have used ad blockers said their main motivation was to block all ads, while 12% said it was to block certain types of ads and 11% said it was only to block ads from certain websites.
“When it comes to a free and an ad-free internet, a lot of consumers want to have their cake and eat it,” said IAB’s CEO, Guy Phillipson, earlier this year.
“However, those unaware that most online services are free – or cost very little – because sites make money from showing visitors ads, could be in for a shock if websites start charging for access because ad blocking reduces their revenue from advertising.
“The bottom line is that if the web didn’t have ads, most sites could only exist by charging subscriptions.”
Arment added: “Ad-blocking is a kind of war – a first-world, low-stakes, both-sides-are-fortunate-to-have-this-kind-of-problem war, but a war nonetheless, with damage hitting both sides.”
