Several mobile carriers in Europe are allegedly looking to block mobile advertisements on their network. One unnamed carrier is reportedly set to drop the no-mobile-ads bomb on Google in particular.
Why? So that Google is compelled to relinquish a chunk of its ad revenue. The news comes courtesy of a Financial Times report, which sites an "executive" from a European carrier as its source. The executive has confirmed to the publication that the company he is associated with and several other mobile operators in Europe are intending to begin the blocking of ads sometime this year.
"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," reports the Financial Times.
The source also revealed to the publication that the blocking of ads for even an hour or for one day is potentially sufficient to get Google to negotiate. The solution to get Google to cower and give in to the demands is by installing ad-blocking software.
Israel- and California-based startup Shine is the brains behind the ad-blocking technology that will be deployed. The technology enables carriers to sieve the ads Google and others offer, and reduce the usage of bandwidth on the network.
The company has corroborated that it is working in tandem with several mobile operators for the same purpose. However, the company did not disclose the names of the mobile operators.
"Tens of millions of mobile subscribers around the world will be opting in to ad blocking by the end of the year," said Roi Carthy, Shine's CEO.
Carthy has also told Business Insider that a major network operator that boasts over 10 million customers will be making the ad-blocking announcement in the coming months.
While the ad-blocking is in violation of net neutrality regulations in the U.S., the EU does not have any comprehensive regulations in the area.
