A new study reveals that iOS ad blockers can actually help users save time and money, in addition to eliminating annoying ads.
Apple just started allowing ad blockers into its iOS ecosystem in September, with the launch of its latest iOS 9, marking a notable first that stirred great interest. Shortly after, ad blockers topped the charts for iOS paid apps, revealing high demand for such software.
As it turns out, ad blockers not only allow users to surf the web without distractions, but also enable them to browse much faster and conserve their data. In turn, this translates to saving both time and money.
With iOS ad blockers clearly on the rise, gaining in popularity as we speak, the New York Times (NYT) decided to look into the matter.
"We decided to put multiple ad blockers to the test. Over the course of four days, we used several ad-blocking apps on our iPhones and measured how much the programs cut down on web page data sizes and improved loading times, and also how much they increased the smartphone's battery life," NYT reported.
After thorough assessment, the NYT recently released its study on the effect of iOS ad blockers when browsing through the top 50 news websites, including its own.
"More than half of all data came from ads and other content filtered by ad blockers. Not all of the news websites were equal," reveals the study.
Because the amount of data used varies by website, the NYT reached its figures by loading each website's home page on an iPhone 6 five or more times over two days, then repeating the same procedure after enabling an ad blocker. With the ad blocker enabled, the NYT found that many websites took less time to load and were easier to use.
At the same time, the publication also points out that data is expensive, and accessing the Boston.com home page daily for a month translates to roughly $9.50 in data usage for the ads alone. Consequently, browsing with ad blockers on iOS can allow for notable savings in data costs.
While this is definitely convenient for users, however, it will have a negative impact for news sites supported by online ads. Not all users may enable ad blockers, but if enough of them do they could spell trouble for many websites.
