Shine Technologies, one of the most well known ad blocking companies, is rebranding as Rainbow, offering a free ad validation platform that conects advertisers to target consumers.
The Israeli start-up which built a reputation for promoting ad blocking technology to telecoms companies, but the new move will see the firm stop selling the software altogether.
As Rainbow, the new service will be free for consumers and publishers to use and it will not charge advertisers to validate ads delivered through the service, the Financial Times reported.
Describing itself as the “guardian of the consumer experience”, Rainbow said its new service would offer a “better advertising experience” for consumers.
Rainbow claims that its offering was built in cooperating with the advertising industry. “We’ve been working hand-in-hand with all stakeholders in order to make it ‘fit-for-purpose’,” reads its media kit. It lists its design partners as mobile carrier group, Three, a “top three global advertising agency group” and a “global media content group”.
The way Rainbow will work is it will verify ads that have been submitted for verification against industry standards. Ads that meet this standard will be digitally stamped and consumers are only presented with Rainbow-verified ads. Rainbow’s filters will be enforced at network-level for consumers who have opted in.
While ad verification services will be free, Rainbow intends to monetise insights and data services.
The will be a premium option, and businesses that pay for access to Rainbow’s insights platform can then receive verification that enables them to bypass its filter system on mobile networks.
The company is reported to have been working on its business model in conjunction with Three, one of its existing telco partners, the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) UK, the Mobile Marketing Association and various media owners and network agencies.
The U-turn is similar to last years decison from Adblock Plus’ owners Eyeo’s decision to launch an ad exchange .
The decision to abandon ad-blocking as a main source of revenue could be due to the slowing adoption of ad-blockers.
