Apple wants to erase ads in Safari

Edit, June 10: The existence of this feature was not acknowledged at WWDC.

Apple Insider reports that Apple may introduce a tool in Safari 18 that allows users to “erase” parts of the visible screen, including ads (emphasis mine):

Also accessible from the new page controls menu is a feature Apple is testing called “Web Eraser.” As its name would imply, it’s designed to allow users to remove, or erase, specific portions of web pages, according to people familiar with the feature … The feature is expected to build upon existing privacy features within Safari and will allow users to erase unwanted content from any webpage of their choosing. Users will have the option to erase banner ads, images, text or even entire page sections, all with relative ease … The erasure is said to be persistent, rather than limited to a browsing session. This means that Safari will remember the changes even after the original tab or window has been closed.

This revelation isn’t new; Apple Insider reported on this in April. What makes this reported tool interesting to consider now is how it might integrate with a larger, consumer-facing AI strategy: Apple is likely to reveal a number of AI-related features across its ecosystem next week at WWDC. And while prognosticating about WWDC is always precarious — my speculation for last year’s WWDC was remarkably wide of the mark — an orientation around AI seems nearly guaranteed following Microsoft’s and Google’s recent developer conferences.

What would it mean for Safari’s “web erasure” mechanism to be assisted by AI? Essentially, that the tool is an ad blocker: that it remembers specific pieces of real estate from a website to erase but also predicts which surface areas to erase based on historical use. This is obviously wild conjecture (not least because the existence of this utility isn’t even guaranteed). But given an environment that invites total commitment to AI-enablement across the entirety of a product portfolio, how else could a content erasure tool be introduced but with AI-assisted functionality that pre-empts the need for a user to erase content manually?

The introduction of a native ad blocker to Safari would represent a considerable escalation in restrictions for web advertising in Safari. Further, a native ad blocker is difficult to justify with privacy considerations: Safari’s Intelligent Tracking Prevention (ITP) framework already blocks third-party cookies completely and limits the functionality of first-party cookies. Erasing ads natively, automatically, would simply undermine the business model of the open web, preventing publishers from monetizing their content. To that end, last month, groups of British and French media companies wrote two separate letters to Apple, warning that introducing a “web eraser” tool would threaten the viability of web publishing.

These media groups are self-interested, but they aren’t wrong. Limiting the ability for behavioral profiles to be compiled and shared is possible without prohibiting personalized advertising altogether (see Pyrrhic Privacy for more); likewise, it also doesn’t require the complete obstruction of all advertising. Introducing a native ad blocker to Safari can be viewed generously as an expansion of user choice. But users are not entitled to choose how or whether a publisher monetizes its product.

A user ultimately has the choice to engage with content on the basis of its monetization strategy. But preventing publishers from monetizing through advertising by obstructing ads from being exposed would constitute a judgment call that, in my view, Apple can’t be entrusted with. Further, if such a product is rolled out, not applying it to the App Store, where Apple runs its Apple Search Ads advertising product, would present a profound inconsistency in policy.