javajocky

But that's not true -- it's actually fairly low. (see posts above).

You're not wrong. Because of their browser share, Google on the desktop and Apple on mobile basically can control how people experience the internet, and they're now choosing to exert that power. It's something to keep an eye on. People might like what they're doing right now, but what if they don't like something they do two steps down the road?

In Safari it auto-blocks ALL video, not just with sound.

Actually though it blocks all the targeting. So, for example (and you can try it yourself now -- it's live in the High Sierra beta that you can download right now), when you go to Facebook, you will no longer see ads that are targeted to your interests/sites you've visited. Facebook makes it's money off of ads that are personalized -- generic ads don't sell. Same with Google's Ad network -- it's targeting you based on demos that it will no longer be able to track. Yes, Apple may be protecting its users but this is a direct hit at Google and Facebook's ad revenues, particularly on mobile, where Safari has a much higher browser share. Download it yourself and try it out; it really is fascinating to see the difference.

You know who's not? B2B publishers. Because if this spreads, if you want to buy a niche market, you have to buy directly from that niche seller (for example, if you want to reach pig farmers, you'll need to buy ads on a pig farmer site -- it's the only way). So the ad networks hate it; direct sellers LOVE it.