Telecom companies consider blocking ads on cell phones
It's an idea that could bring tensions between the telecommunications industry and Internet companies to a head: According to the Financial Times, several mobile carriers are working to block online advertising on their networks.
A European network operator has already installed the necessary software in its data centers and wants to switch it on by the end of 2015, the Financial Times wrote on Friday. Such a move could cost Internet companies such as Google or Yahoo revenue. Ads in the form of paid messages - such as those used by Facebook or Twitter - would not be affected, the business newspaper reported.
A senior manager at a European network operator told the Financial Times that they initially wanted to offer customers the option of booking an ad-free service. However, a more radical step called "the bomb" is also being considered, in which ads could be blocked across the entire network of millions of customers in one fell swoop. The idea behind this is to force Google in particular to share advertising revenue, the paper wrote.
Telecoms companies like to complain that internet companies make a lot of money on their networks without contributing to the high infrastructure costs. However, blocking ads could raise the question of a violation of the principle of net neutrality, according to which all data must be treated equally. (SDA)
