media

The Author Should Write the Headline →

June 7, 2016 · 08:39

Ken Segall:

Last week, I wrote an article for The Guardian with the above title. It was a question, not a conclusion, and I tried to offer a thoughtful opinion. Sadly, The Guardian chose to give it a click-bait headline that contradicted my point of view. So, for the record, here is the complete article as originally intended.

I read Ken’s article on the Guardian and my first thought was that he’s an asshole for that clickbait headline. And that the article itself did not even make one sensible argument for the statement in the title.

Now it’s clear what happened.

Shine Partnering With Three to Block Ads for Mobile Web →

February 20, 2016 · 03:13

Maureen Morrison:

Israeli ad blocking company Shine is partnering with European carrier Three Group to offer blocking of display ads on the mobile web and in apps. Shine’s technology works by blocking ads at the network level.

The effort will begin with Three’s service in Italy and the U.K., then be rolled out across all of Three Group in Europe, which includes Austria, Denmark and Sweden. In total, Shine said that 30 million subscribers will be able to use the technology to block ads.

As a user I think this is great. As a publisher, not so much. I do however realise that news sites need readers more than readers need news sites. Some online publications are already blocking users using ad-blockers, and while I understand their point of view, I use an ad-blocker myself, but for security reasons. And if I hit a message denying me access to that particular site, I’ll go elsewhere.