It's Friday, Friday... Today's Media Roundup is brought to you by Esther.

Apple wants to change the way digital ads work. Facebook hates that idea. You’re in the middle. — www.vox.com

We try to keep a lid on the amount of platform news we put in here, but the last few weeks, it's been unavoidable. This piece is a must-read for me, because what Apple is introducing in a few weeks will single-handedly change the way internet advertising works.

In a nutshell, Apple's iOS 14 update, coming in a few weeks, will ask iPhone users if they want specific apps to follow them around the internet and track their behaviour. Like with cookies, if there's a clear option to say 'no', the majority of people will take it. And this will affect everyone who uses ad technology to monitor what app users are doing across the internet.

These changes will hit the biggest internet ad players, because it affects apps with huge user bases. Facebook are going to be especially hurt by this, with research suggesting that its revenue could drop by half if targeted advertising goes away. It will affect publishers too; Martin Clarke at DMG Media has said the move "puts at risk our ability to provide an Apple app."

For consumers, this is great. Where one tech giant goes, the others usually follow when it comes to privacy. It will also benefit publishers with a good first-party data strategy. As this battle unfolds, the next few months are set to be very interesting indeed.

8 ways publishers are making money from podcasts — voices.media

Whenever we talk about publishers making podcasts, the conversation inevitably turns to how podcasts can make publishers money. Here, we've compiled a list of 8 ways pods can bring in the money, and plenty of examples of publishers using each method.

53% of publishers report revenue growth, as income from subscriptions rise strongly — whatsnewinpublishing.com

A mixed bag of numbers from the latest quarterly Digital Publishers Revenue Index by the AOP and Deloitte. Digital publishing revenues fell 'less than expected' in Q1, and 29% of publishers have cited rises in excess of 25% year-on-year. It's likely that revenue impact will be more severe when the Q2 reports come out though.

Google Chrome's new 'heavy ads' blocker catches some publishers by surprise — digiday.com

Talking of tech giants and ad wars, Google Chrome has started rolling out a new feature designed to block ads that use too much network bandwidth or battery power. If you don't optimise your ads, Google will optimise them for you by blocking them!

Today's throwback:

The Telegraph Podcast Editor Theodora Louloudis on podcasting's role in growing subscriptions — voices.media

On the theme of podcast revenue, today's throwback is to The Telegraph's Podcast Editor Theodora Louloudis talking about growing the publisher's podcast offering, commissioning shows, and how podcasts enhance their subscription offerings.

Lessons from award-winning podcasts: Bauer's Terri White on The Pilot TV podcast — voices.media

I promise this isn't a test of how many times I can say the word 'podcast' in one newsletter. Next Wednesday, we'll be releasing the first in our series of podcasts about award-winning podcast strategies, which Peter has spent August putting together. First up is Terri White, so I'm resurfacing this article to whet your appetite (or ears).