In an interesting twist, Israel-based mobile ad blocking company Shine has rebranded itself as Rainbow and, instead of selling network-level ad blocking products to mobile carriers, it will offer whitelisting and data services to advertisers and publishers, reports Business Insider. This is a dramatic change from its previous position from where the company was a year ago.

According to Adweek, last February, Shine CMO Roi Carthy said this about mobile ads during a panel discussion at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona:

“Every individual using a mobile handset, smartphone or desktop is being abused by ad-tech – that’s not selective, that is 100 percent,” Carthy said. “We’re talking about military-grade tracking, targeting and profiling. Consumers do not have the ability to protect themselves. I understand that there is a criticism that all publishers are being painted with a single brush – there needs to be more nuance here – however, where the conversation is right now with ad blocking is less about nuance and more about sending a very clear signal.”

Alrighty then. So what’s changed? Well, the company’s product offerings and business model are two elements that have dramatically changed since that 2016 talk. Previously, Shine, which required opt-in by customers, intended to block all ads at the network level.

Under Rainbow, advertisers and publishers can get their ads unblocked by going through an ad approval process, similar to Adblock Plus‘s acceptable ads whitelisting program. Unlike Adblock Plus, however, this ad verification process will be free. Adblock Plus charges some of the largest advertisers and publishers for the whitelisting service. Rainbow will determine if ads are acceptable by using criteria set by the Interactive Advertising Bureau and others, reports Adweek.

To make money, Rainbow plans to generate revenue by selling data services, says Business Insider, to publishers, advertisers, agencies and ad tech vendors. Because Rainbow already has established relationships with mobile carriers and it has access to verified mobile subscriber data, its data could hold real value to publishers and advertisers who want to learn more about their customers and the effectiveness of their ad campaigns.

Similar to a license-based model, Rainbow can make money by selling network-based statistics and data-targeting services to advertisers and publishers, says Adweek. Rainbow CRO James Collier said that 30 to 40 global mobile carriers have tested the new tool already, including U.K. carrier Three Group.

Adweek reports that Steve Chester, IAB U.K.’s director of data and industry programs, said this about the change:

“We’re really pleased to see that Shine has moved away from mobile network-level ad blocking, embracing and committing to working with the industry in the ongoing development of better ad standards. The IAB U.K. as well as other industry bodies have been in discussions with Shine to ensure we are kept up to speed on their proposed new platform, Rainbow, to understand its ongoing development and continue to encourage continuing collaboration with the industry. We look forward to receiving further information about Rainbow as and when it develops, and how it will align to industry agreed standards.”

To launch the initiative, Rainbow released a series of videos including this one titled “I am dangerous.”

Other videos – “I am annoying,” “I am your type,” and “I am irrelevant” can be viewed on the Rainbow site.  

The question is how publishers and advertisers will respond to this new initiative, particularly after Shine was vehemently opposed to mobile ads just a year ago. Did Shine burn its bridges? Is that why the company rebranded itself as Rainbow, a name that conjures up images of leprechans, pots of gold and the occasional unicorn?

Insider Take:

If this strategy sounds familiar, it is. Last fall Adblock Plus debuted its Acceptable Ads Platform to – wait for it – sell ads. Yep, an ad blocking company that wants to sell ads. Though Adblock Plus said it was offering the new platform as a compromise, this was an odd move, particularly because Adblock Plus was the most downloaded ad blocking platform with more than 100 million downloads.

We wonder what’s really going on here. Are ad blocking companies seeing that compromise is necessary, or is it that their previous model wasn’t generating enough revenue to be sustainable, or maybe the truth lies somewhere in the middle? It will be interesting to see how Rainbow and Adblock Plus evolve with their new products and business models and how publishers and advertisers respond to the companies who were previously their arch enemies.