Marco Arment:
Achieving this much success with Peace just doesn’t feel good, which I didn’t anticipate, but probably should have. Ad blockers come with an important asterisk: while they do benefit a ton of people in major ways, they also hurt some, including many who don’t deserve the hit.
Peace required that all ads be treated the same — all-or-nothing enforcement for decisions that aren’t black and white. This approach is too blunt, and Ghostery and I have both decided that it doesn’t serve our goals or beliefs well enough. If we’re going to effect positive change overall, a more nuanced, complex approach is required than what I can bring in a simple iOS app.
One of the features I like in Ghostery’s desktop browser plugin is the ability block things by network. It lets me see ads from people I like running ads from networks that respect me as a visitor, and hide the junk that clogs up big-name sites.
That ability isn’t present in Peace, and it led to a bunch of weirdness over the last few days.
Clearly, all of this didn’t sit well with Marco, and he’s pulled Peace from the App Store as a result. I respect the hell out of that.