As the ad blocking wars heat up,the IAB‘s Technology Laboratory has launched a new guide that outlines the tactics publishers are using to urge users to stop using the filtering technology.
The new Publisher Ad Blocking Primer pack complements the trade body’s ‘LEAN’ set of ad blocking principles for advertisers with ‘DEAL’, a series of recommendations for publishers on how to connect with ad blocking consumers and steer them back towards accepting advertising.
The four steps are detecting ad blocking in order to initiate a conversation, explaining the value exchange that advertising enables and maintains, asking for consumers to change their behaviour and finally lifting restrictions or limiting access, based on consumers’ choices.
The primer identifies DEAL as a recommended approach for publishers to connect with ad blocking consumers through a step-by-step process:
“The release of this primer in conjunction with the open-source ad blocking detection script will open the door for transparency and meaningful dialogue with visitors using ad blockers,” said Scott Cunningham, General Manager, IAB Tech Lab, and Senior Vice President, Technology and Ad Operations, IAB. “We believe that a combination of tools and the DEAL approach to communication with consumers will allow publishers big and small the chance to cut through the blockade, ensuring the strength of the open, ad-supported internet.”
“The IAB and the IAB Tech Lab have provided publishers helpful insights into how to build trust with readers and move them towards disabling their ad blockers,” said Jed Hartman, Chief Revenue Officer, The Washington Post, and member of the IAB Board of Directors. “Their focus on engaging readers in this process is vital to the growth of digital marketing and media.”
Several of the tactics highlighted in the primer fit into the DEAL sequence – and all strongly encourage adhering to the LEAN (Light, Encrypted, Ad choice supported, Non-invasive ads) principles, which were released in October 2015 to help publishers create an uncluttered, smooth user experience on ad-supported sites.
The paper points out that the DEAL method of engaging with consumers who have installed ad blockers will be more effective if a publisher’s site offers a user-friendly web environment.
This is another example of how the ad industry still doesn’t get it.
1) “Initiate conversation” – one reason users block ads is because they are a distraction from what the user is doing. Users don’t want to have a conversation with advertisers while they’re doing something more important. And they will always (in their mind) being doing something more important. And isn’t the emotional content of most ads proof not even the ad industry thinks you can appeal to readers with reason.
2) “equitable exchange” – a key reason users block ads is because they don’t believe there is an equitable exchange of value. The widespread use of hidden tracking, user profiling, and unwelcome personalization means users now think the exchange is unfair, that advertisers get much more value than users. See point 1 – ads are percieved as of no value to users.
3) “lift restrictions” based on consumer choice. This means – force consumers to remove ad blocking or deny access to content. The competition is only a click away, so this will only hurt publishers. No one beleives any single site has unique content except that site’s owner. They are always wrong, there’s always a viable alternative.
The main argument is that ads are the only way to support free content. Consumers either don’t believe it or don’t care. They are convinced that if ads ceased, clever businesses would find another way of making money. In addition, with so much content on the web, they are convinced there will always be alternatives.
The ad industry should recognise no one would go to the effort of blocking ads if the ads themselves weren’t the problem. Ad blocking is a response to decades of truely aweful online ad practice and consumer exploitation. Advertisers should stop creating ads which alienate consumers and should adopt respectable and open data policies. Only when the ad industry starts respecting public opinion and acting in an open and honest manner, does it have any chance of changing public opinion. The industry needs to address the real consumer concerns – that online advertising is brutal, dishonest, and has no respect for consumers. Consumers will never see advertising the same way as the ad industry. Good advertisers understand how consumer’s think, but on this issue, it seems determined to avoid understanding them at all.