A coalition of French advertising and media trade groups, representing around 800 entities, has urged Apple CEO Tim Cook to halt the rollout of a new "web eraser" feature in iOS 18. This tool would allow Safari users to remove unwanted content such as ads, text, and images from web pages, potentially harming the online advertising business.
Concerns Raised by Trade Groups
The letter, signed by leaders from various French trade associations including Alliance Digitale, Geste, SRI, UDECAM, APIG, and Union des Marques, highlights several key concerns:
- Economic Impact: The feature could jeopardize the online-advertising business model during an already challenging period.
- Market Share: Safari holds about 25% of the browser market share in France and nearly 90% on Apple mobile devices.
- Job Threat: The feature could threaten 100,000 jobs in France reliant on online advertising.
- Legal and Editorial Concerns: Questions about the legality of releasing such a feature without assessing its impact on businesses and potential benefits to Apple's own advertising services.
Broader Industry Impact
The French trade groups' plea follows similar concerns from the UK's News Media Association, which represents major titles like the Daily Mail and The Guardian. They argue that the web eraser could act as a "blunt instrument" similar to an ad blocker, affecting publishers' ability to fund their work and potentially leading to consumers missing important information.
Regulatory and Competitive Issues
Apple's previous privacy feature, App Tracking Transparency, had a significant negative impact on ad revenue for some companies and is under antitrust investigations in France and Germany. The trade groups argue that the web eraser could be another example of Big Tech making disruptive changes without media and advertising companies having any control. As one of the six designated Big Tech "gatekeepers" under Europe's Digital Markets Act, Apple is required to allow third parties to interoperate with its services and not favor its own products.
Next Steps
The letter was also sent to Thierry Breton, the European commissioner for internal market, the head of the French Competition Authority, and the French ministers of culture and the economy. Apple has not yet commented on the feature but is expected to announce new updates at its annual Worldwide Developers Conference on June 10.
