Max Charney
Staff Writer
The Web is used everyday by millions of people from all over the word, but is dying a slow death. It should be made clear that this is not about the Internet. The World Wide Web and the Internet are two different things. The Web is the Graphical User Interface (GUI) where documents are stored by hyperlinks. It is a fancy way to describe a web page like Google, Youtube, or Reddit. The Internet is the global system that connects all computers and phones too. The Web is inside the Internet.
Recently Google began to crack down on users that use the popular software AdBlock on Youtube, meaning viewers could no longer skip ads as they had done previously. This caused huge backlash, but people quickly discovered how to once again get around the ads.
So why did Google decide to start cracking down? It is simple: money. YouTube generates money from having ads on its site (Google bought Youtube for twenty-nine billion dollars in 2011), but with more people using AdBlock and other software to stop ads, Google is losing money. Almost all ads on the Internet come from Google.
Apple is the third competitor. They are dominating the market with iPhones, iPads, and Macs. With Firefox, Apple allows users to block ads, but only Google’s ads. This is driving a stake right into Google’s revenue. Apple is getting money from their products and their apps. Users can not block ads from Apple on Apple’s aps.
And guess who else is doing this...
Facebook does not allow you to block ads on their site either, including the app version. This is because mobile is roaring ahead; there is an app for nearly everything. If someone makes an app for Apple some of the revenue is cut, but hosting apps on Android (Google) is free. You can do and make whatever you want.
If companies cannot make money, the Web will become a lot less active and innovative than it is today. The tech titans will battle it out for control as long as they have money, but technology is trending towards mobile.
