O2 is also looking at network-level mobile ad blocking

Following in EE’s footsteps, O2 is at a “well advanced” stage of implementing ad blocking.

Sebastian Anthony – Nov 25, 2015 2:27 pm | 9

Emboldened by EE’s pronouncement that it was looking at network-level ad blocking, fellow carrier O2—which has around 24 million mobile customers—has come out of the closet to say that it’s toying with mobile ad blocking as well.

In an interview with Business Insider, O2’s Robert Franks said that, “We are absolutely looking at [network-level ad blocking] technology … We are absolutely having conversations which are well-advanced in terms of what that tehcnology would do in in our network and other layers and how we would position this with customers.”

O2’s motivation seems to be similar to EE’s: they’re worried about how invasive, intrusive, or otherwise crappy mobile ads might create a bad experience for their customers. “We are holding ourselves to the highest standards with our own advertising. We are looking at these technologies to see if they can help our customers with some of the bad practices and disruptive experiences that are happening,” Franks said.

The Business Insider interview also touches upon another interesting topic: how would O2 or EE offer ad blocking to customers when they automatically connect to a Wi-Fi hotspot that isn’t controlled by the mobile carrier? Franks said that O2 was looking at a “blended” approach, which presumably means there would be some kind of on-device ad blocker in addition to network-level ad blocking.

While O2 seems to be a bit further down the path than EE—the former seems to actually be testing something, which is only at the “strategic review” stage—it’s clear that neither carrier is close to actually rolling out an ad-blocking service to their customers. While the topic of network-level ad blocking has come up a few times in the last few years, there are scant few ISPs or carriers who have actually implemented such a thing.

Back in 2013, a large French ISP turned on ad blocking by default—but it only lasted a few days before the French government stepped in told them to stop playing silly buggers. If O2 or EE actually go ahead with network-level ad blocking they would have to do it very cautiously, or face a similar fate.