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takyon [soylentnews.org] writes:

Samsung's default browser on Android devices will now support ad-blocking [theregister.co.uk]:

Samsung has added built-in ad-blocking capabilities to its Android browser in its latest OTA (over-the-air) update to its Lollipop 5.0 devices, which include the Galaxy S6.

Samsung's internet browser now supports third-party ad-blockers such as Adblock Fast [google.com]. Firefox's browser supports ad-blocking plug-ins, while to firewall unwanted traffic across the system, Android users need to root their devices, or install NoRoot Firewall [google.com].

Apple heralded the much vaunted "adpocalypse" by adding support for ad-blockers in Safari in its iOS9 update last year. Advertising spending on mobile campaigns is increasing more rapidly than other digital formats, in part because it has been harder to block advertising on mobile devices. Publishers have begun to fight back passive-aggressively, refusing [theregister.co.uk] to serve content to browsers with an active ad-blocker. The least passive, and most aggressive, was Alphabet (Google) itself: it took technical countermeasures against YouTube ad-blockers, and forced those attempting to block video ads to watch even longer video ads.

[...] So will Samsung's move accelerate the "adpocalypse"? Perhaps not as much as you might initially think. Samsung remains the No.1 Android vendor, and has only just slipped behind [idc.com] Apple in total smartphone shipments. But Chrome still dominates mobile browsing, with 41.57 per cent share so far in January 2016, and Chrome's rise [netmarketshare.com] has been consistently steady.

Adblock Plus [betanews.com] is also available.

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