I take this as the best explanation why Reddit is pushing its app so hard, even though it has a one of the most visited websites in the world. It's not about user engagement with content. It's about user engagement with ads.
Indeed. A lot of work has been put into degrading the mobile experience with banners and prompts and delays to force users onto the app. Sensible people use BaconReader, but I wonder how long that will be allowed to continue.
I’ve said it multiple times ... aggressive ad-blocking is hurting the open web, because publishers need a revenue stream to survive and they won’t go down without a fight.
This means shitty native apps, walled gardens and DRM.
Ads hurt the open web, because advertisers normally don't want to show up alongside even moderately risqué content. If we want sites with real freedom of expression, we have to find a real way to pay for it - via crowdfunding, micropayments, or whatever.
Blokada is great, however I believe Reddit does a lot of paid native advertising and interweaving of ads within content.
I don't believe the ads in the latter category are pulled from an ad server, they're served from the same source as real content. Could be wrong though, I haven't used Reddit in a while.
You can block hosts on rooted phone easily, so if it's an ad network, it can be done. If it's first party, or in-content, ala tumblr, it's not been done yet, as far as I'm aware - that doesn't make it impossible though.