The desktop version of Safari has always been pre-installed with ad-blocking software. Now to add to the online publishers’ woes, Apple iOS 9 to come with Ad Blocking feature. Earlier this month, Adobe and PageFair report gave some alarming figures for online content publishers.

Apple iOS 9 to come with Ad Blocking feature was discovered when iOS 9 was announced by the company. The tech giant isn’t powering the ad blocking tool itself, rather it is allowing developers to create apps to work with the browser in its iOS 9. It means users must search for that kind of app and install it (extra step may be good for online publishers).

Dean Murphy, an iOS developer is creating an ad blocking app for iOS 9 called Crystal. According to him, the app can dramatically improve the browsing experience and in his tests the websites of 10 organizations loaded almost four times faster with the ad blocking app and consumed 53% less data.

Ad blocking within apps not allowed:

Apple iOS 9 to come with Ad Blocking feature, but according to the company, it won’t allow ad blocking within apps. The reason is ads inside apps don’t compromise on performance; also nearly 30% share of the revenue generated from apps goes to Apple.

This latest move from Apple could be expected to pose a serious threat to the mobile advertising industry. According to a report from The Wall Street Journal, online publishers are really annoyed about this feature. If we consider the number of iPhone users in the world, after the implementation of this feature the number of people viewing ads could reduce dramatically.

Apple device owners are a more lucrative audience than Android users because Apple users usually spend more money on their devices, making them more desirable to advertisers. Apple iOS 9 to come with Ad Blocking feature could disrupt the $70 billion annual mobile marketing business. The website owners who depend largely on advertisement revenue will be most affected.

If the trend of using ad blocking software continues, the number of free content publishers could reduce to a great extent.