Nobody likes mobile ads. They pop up to hold apps hostage and make browsing highly frustrating. InMobi is now hoping to make them more entertaining, charming and human with the launch of MIIP, a virtual sloth. But can a furry helper really make mobile ads less annoying?

Americans consume more than half of all digital media through mobile apps, and Vungle hopes to become the 'Google of mobile ads'. But can an ad network based on hints and rewards for gamers dominate the in-app advertising market? And do players really want ads while they game?

Advert-blocking browser plugins are growing at a rate of nearly 70% year-on-year. The most popular, AdBlocker, reached 150 million users in June 2014. And if people really are more likely to climb Mount Everest than click a banner ad, what is next for online advertising?

We're bombarded by hundreds of advertisements every day. Online we've been able to exercise some control over these with ad-blocking software, while offline we're less able to curate what we do or don't see. But perhaps not for much longer.