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How long will this revolution last if content providers decide to not show content to iOS users? I mean if they exist to make money and they can't on iOS would

How long will this revolution last if content providers decide to not show content to iOS users? I mean if they exist to make money and they can't on iOS would it matter that there were hundreds of millions of them? With ad blocking it would be as if they never existed in first place. Perhaps the idea is for Apple to get the content providers to make apps so they get their cut? Perhaps it is better for the content providers if they make content for-pay only for iOS users and make it work because Apple's users don't mind paying for stuff? This is definitely not about Apple's good will for its users or love for the UX though - interesting how Apple and its fans like the perpetuate everything under "because Apple cares" banner!

thescrewdriver 11y ago
> How long will this revolution last if content providers decide to not show content to iOS users? Which begs the question: How long will content providers last if they decide to not show content to iOS users?
- verinus 11y ago
  depends on the market share and monetization I think. It would hurt content providers targeting the US much more than those who target the global market where iOS has a much lower market share...
- blinkingled 11y ago
  More like how long will content providers last if iOS users block their ads? Showing the content doesn't mean anything if they can't monetize it.
- danielweber 11y ago
  Someone has to pay the bills. It's conceivable that the iOS users are all loss-leaders telling their non-ad-blocking friends to read the article, but that's kind of stretching it.
  - thescrewdriver 11y ago
    I'm sure Facebook and Google will land on their feet.
  - josteink 11y ago
    Considering how ios is the last platform to gain ad blocking, something android, the majority platform has had for years, it's definitely stretching it. I don't think anyone would be able to make that argument with a straight face.
robmcm 11y ago
This is the start of an arms race. I expect by the time this launches there will be tools provided by the ad-networks to detect blockers and allow the content provider to block access.
- blinkingled 11y ago
  Exactly - that will hurt the UX like nothing else ever has. If people find out web sites don't work on their phone or tablet - the dumping of that platform to the competitor will be rather quick. Partly why Windows Phone didn't fly was IE - the websites looked crap compared to WebKit based browsers. Microsoft had to do unprecedented stuff like emulating WebKit to get over it.
  - robmcm 11y ago
    They will only break if people have manually installed an ad blocker. I imagine this will be the vast minority of users, but will give the content owners and ad networks a reason to think about what they are doing to the UX of their website.
pjc50 11y ago
It might not be a bad thing if it did trigger a more above-board means of both paying for content and producing content that people want to pay for. At the moment it's a clickbait race to the bottom. Also, bear in mind that we're having this discussion on an ad-free website.
- blinkingled 11y ago
  > Also, bear in mind that we're having this discussion on an ad-free website. That's a totally wrong comparison however. Nothing fits.
- fluidcruft 11y ago
  HN has ads. They are rare (and mostly job postings), but they do exist.
  - patrickk 11y ago
    Which job links are paid for on HN? That's news to me. I have no problem with this actually, because such things are on a separate page and its obvious the content you are getting is relevant to you (unlike lots of online advertising). Good luck to pg and the devs and mods behind HN if they want to generate cash to keep the site going.
    - kaybe 11y ago
      I think the parent post is talking about the occasional job ads for YC companies, in the normal link list on the front page. You can recognize them since they cannot be upvoted. It's not like they pay money I guess, but get visibility to find talented workers.
threeseed 11y ago
> How long will this revolution last if content providers decide to not show content to iOS users? Good luck with that. iOS users make up a significant percentage of web traffic and are demographically the most valuable (generally of a higher socio-economic status). By alienating them they won't be coming to your site which means no opportunity to upsell them to a paid version of the content. Advertisers don't deserve much sympathy from me. They have trashed the customer experience.
- prapam2 11y ago
  "higher socio-economic status" - might be outside US but aren't the mobile subsidized in US. There was discussion in reddit about an article about Moto on how its going to change the way mobiles are purchased. One of the top commented reply was about people not willing to buy $400+ mobiles.
  - charlesarthur 11y ago
    "There was discussion in reddit about an article about Moto on how its going to change the way mobiles are purchased. One of the top commented reply was about people not willing to buy $400+ mobiles." Motorola is not going to change the way the vast majority of mobiles are purchased in the US, which is through carriers. No matter how many comments an article might have had on Reddit. Emerging markets (specifically: India) might have lots of people buying phones online, but the US has a long-established system which is extremely resistant to disruption. According to ComScore [1] in May 2015 Apple+Samsung had over 72% of the installed base of smartphones in the US. No reason for that to change in any hurry. Observation: don't use the number of comments on articles on Reddit as a metric of anything except the number of comments on articles on Reddit. [1] http://www.comscore.com/Insights/Market-Rankings/comScore-Reports-May-2015-US-Smartphone-Subscriber-Market-Share http://www.comscore.com/Insights/Market-Rankings/comScore-Re...
    - prapam2 11y ago
      I pointed it out since the Op mentioned high society-economic classes buy iPhones. When in reality most are not willing to pay full price. If you see a user using iPhone in India then there is a good chance that he belongs to high income class(iPhone is a status symbol here since most are willing to buy older models for less price).
joeblau 11y ago
> How long will this revolution last if content providers decide to not show content to iOS users? It's also not just iOS. It's a feature of Safari so it would also impact desktop visits to websites as well.
MarkMc 11y ago
> Perhaps the idea is for Apple to get the content providers to make apps so they get their cut? I don't see how that would work. When you visit the New York Times website on iOS it will simply say, "Sorry web not supported on iOS; please download our app". The NYT app will be free but will show NYT ads - Apple will not get any extra revenue.

thescrewdriver 11y ago

> How long will this revolution last if content providers decide to not show content to iOS users? Which begs the question: How long will content providers last if they decide to not show content to iOS users?

verinus 11y ago
depends on the market share and monetization I think. It would hurt content providers targeting the US much more than those who target the global market where iOS has a much lower market share...
blinkingled 11y ago
More like how long will content providers last if iOS users block their ads? Showing the content doesn't mean anything if they can't monetize it.
danielweber 11y ago
Someone has to pay the bills. It's conceivable that the iOS users are all loss-leaders telling their non-ad-blocking friends to read the article, but that's kind of stretching it.
- thescrewdriver 11y ago
  I'm sure Facebook and Google will land on their feet.
- josteink 11y ago
  Considering how ios is the last platform to gain ad blocking, something android, the majority platform has had for years, it's definitely stretching it. I don't think anyone would be able to make that argument with a straight face.

robmcm 11y ago

This is the start of an arms race. I expect by the time this launches there will be tools provided by the ad-networks to detect blockers and allow the content provider to block access.

blinkingled 11y ago
Exactly - that will hurt the UX like nothing else ever has. If people find out web sites don't work on their phone or tablet - the dumping of that platform to the competitor will be rather quick. Partly why Windows Phone didn't fly was IE - the websites looked crap compared to WebKit based browsers. Microsoft had to do unprecedented stuff like emulating WebKit to get over it.
- robmcm 11y ago
  They will only break if people have manually installed an ad blocker. I imagine this will be the vast minority of users, but will give the content owners and ad networks a reason to think about what they are doing to the UX of their website.

pjc50 11y ago

It might not be a bad thing if it did trigger a more above-board means of both paying for content and producing content that people want to pay for. At the moment it's a clickbait race to the bottom. Also, bear in mind that we're having this discussion on an ad-free website.

blinkingled 11y ago
> Also, bear in mind that we're having this discussion on an ad-free website. That's a totally wrong comparison however. Nothing fits.
fluidcruft 11y ago
HN has ads. They are rare (and mostly job postings), but they do exist.
- patrickk 11y ago
  Which job links are paid for on HN? That's news to me. I have no problem with this actually, because such things are on a separate page and its obvious the content you are getting is relevant to you (unlike lots of online advertising). Good luck to pg and the devs and mods behind HN if they want to generate cash to keep the site going.
  - kaybe 11y ago
    I think the parent post is talking about the occasional job ads for YC companies, in the normal link list on the front page. You can recognize them since they cannot be upvoted. It's not like they pay money I guess, but get visibility to find talented workers.

threeseed 11y ago

> How long will this revolution last if content providers decide to not show content to iOS users? Good luck with that. iOS users make up a significant percentage of web traffic and are demographically the most valuable (generally of a higher socio-economic status). By alienating them they won't be coming to your site which means no opportunity to upsell them to a paid version of the content. Advertisers don't deserve much sympathy from me. They have trashed the customer experience.

prapam2 11y ago
"higher socio-economic status" - might be outside US but aren't the mobile subsidized in US. There was discussion in reddit about an article about Moto on how its going to change the way mobiles are purchased. One of the top commented reply was about people not willing to buy $400+ mobiles.
- charlesarthur 11y ago
  "There was discussion in reddit about an article about Moto on how its going to change the way mobiles are purchased. One of the top commented reply was about people not willing to buy $400+ mobiles." Motorola is not going to change the way the vast majority of mobiles are purchased in the US, which is through carriers. No matter how many comments an article might have had on Reddit. Emerging markets (specifically: India) might have lots of people buying phones online, but the US has a long-established system which is extremely resistant to disruption. According to ComScore [1] in May 2015 Apple+Samsung had over 72% of the installed base of smartphones in the US. No reason for that to change in any hurry. Observation: don't use the number of comments on articles on Reddit as a metric of anything except the number of comments on articles on Reddit. [1] http://www.comscore.com/Insights/Market-Rankings/comScore-Reports-May-2015-US-Smartphone-Subscriber-Market-Share http://www.comscore.com/Insights/Market-Rankings/comScore-Re...
  - prapam2 11y ago
    I pointed it out since the Op mentioned high society-economic classes buy iPhones. When in reality most are not willing to pay full price. If you see a user using iPhone in India then there is a good chance that he belongs to high income class(iPhone is a status symbol here since most are willing to buy older models for less price).

joeblau 11y ago

> How long will this revolution last if content providers decide to not show content to iOS users? It's also not just iOS. It's a feature of Safari so it would also impact desktop visits to websites as well.

MarkMc 11y ago

> Perhaps the idea is for Apple to get the content providers to make apps so they get their cut? I don't see how that would work. When you visit the New York Times website on iOS it will simply say, "Sorry web not supported on iOS; please download our app". The NYT app will be free but will show NYT ads - Apple will not get any extra revenue.