The Real Battle Over Ad-Blocking Is Between Big Tech and Independent Media

[Commentary] The stakes in the raging battle over ad-blocking software are high -- but they're not quite what you might think. Essentially, it comes down to this: publishers that rely on web advertising are helping to drive revenue to Apple's archenemy, Google, which controls much of the infrastructure for online ads. Block those ads and those publishers are more likely to run into the warm embrace of Apple, whose new Apple News platform provides a nice, safe, closed environment with ads that can't be blocked. And Apple gets a 30 percent cut.

So why not come up with a different kind of blocker -- a piece of software that informs you when you're about to access a website that fails to follow some agreed-upon list of best practices regarding privacy and user experience? Such an arrangement may be the best way to preserve independent media on the open web. Users would be able to protect themselves from abusive adware without freeloading. And web publishers who see their traffic drop might decide it's time to change their ways.

[Dan Kennedy is an associate professor in the School of Journalism at Northeastern University]