Is ad blocking good for advertisers?

Advertising has been foundational to the economics of the free World Wide Web for 20 years. But whether it was page-load delays back in the dial-up days or the glacial mobile web experiences of today, consumers have consistently expressed annoyance with advertisements that, ostensibly, get in way of the content they seek—proved by the fact that a day after the release of iOS 9 (which enabled ad blocking), an array of ad-blocking apps climbed into the top-download charts. When all members of the ecosystem—advertisers, publishers, and particularly consumers—seem to be incentivized to optimize user experience, why have things not improved? Tony Ralph explains why the increasing prevalence of ad blocking and the related debate that has ensued could be the key to inciting progress.