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12/22/2024 08:49:00 pm

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Three Invites 500,000 Users to Test Ad-Blocking Technology

United Kingdom-based wireless carrier Three announce in February about its intentions to block ads on mobile devices.

(Photo : Twitter) Three plans to invite 500,000 subscribers to participate in the testing of its ad-blocking technology.

United Kingdom-based wireless carrier Three announced its intentions to block ads on mobile devices in February. Now, the network provider has unveiled its strategy; revealing that it will offer 500,000 of its customers the chance to be a part of the test phase of this new service. Three is planning to kick off the test next month.

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In a statement released by Three, the company cited a couple of reasons why it is imposing ad blocking on its network.

First, the company said that ads are counted as part of customers' data charges instead of it being charged to the advertisers. Three also claims that advertisers "extract and exploit" certain customer information. Finally, Three said that customers do not receive relevant ads and that the ads have significantly affected browsing experience, according to Slash Gear.

As part of its effort to curb ads on mobile devices, Three announced that it is partnering up with ad-blocking startup Shine. It appears that Three's parent company CK Hutchinson owner Li Ka-shing is also an investor in Shine.

Three said that once it implements its ad-blocking technology, it would prevent up to 95 percent of adverts and pop-ups on websites. The company added that pre-roll video adverts, sponsored articles and promotions posted on social networking platforms like Facebook and Twitter will not be blocked.

As a response to Three's impending new rule on ads, Internet Advertising Bureau director of data and industry programs Steve Chester told the BBC that: "We're all committed to solving the ad-blocking issue but disagree with Three's approach that network-level ad-blocking is the way to go. It's a broad-brush approach that the largest media owners can probably survive but not the smaller ones."

Aside from the strategy that Three is planning to adopt, a significant portion of Internet users are also blocking ads on their devices by using browser plug-ins or apps.

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