Charlie Ashe, head of digital strategy at Ve Interactive, discusses what the realistic implications are for the rest of the industry.
As anyone working in marketing or advertising will realise, 2015 was the year ad blocking went mainstream. What was previously the worry of a small number of marketers has become a tool in widespread use. Data published by PageFair really puts this growth into perspective: global ad blocker use rose 41 percent between Q2 2014 and Q2 2015, with an estimated $21.8bn in revenues lost as a result of ad blocking in 2015.
These stats are somewhat alarming, and so it’s no surprise that publishers are getting worried. The recent growth of mobile ad blocking has compounded this issue: use of mobile ad blockers has trebled in the past three months. In the face of these somewhat alarming statistics it’s worth keeping calm and taking an objective look the causes and implications of ad blocking.
You won’t be charged for a blocked ad
Ad blocking effects advertisers much less harshly than it does publishers. Publishers are losing out on real revenue due to ad slots on their websites going unused. The flip side of this situation is that advertisers don’t pay for those ad slots. This is due to the fact that most mainstream ad blockers prevent an ad unit from ever loading, so no impression is logged and no charge against the advertiser’s account is recorded.
Publishers aren’t simply lying down and surrendering to this state of affairs though. There is a growing ‘arms race’ between ad blockers and publishers seeking to minimise the damage they’re causing to their bottom lines. From forcing users to whitelist their sites to implementing ‘anti-ad blocking technology’, there are many avenues to recovering revenue that publishers are implementing.
Ad block users don’t hate all ads
They only hate some of them. When considering the origins of ad blocking and why it has become so popular it’s clear how this could be the case. The types of ads people hate don’t take much insight to figure out: distracting ads; autoplay audio ads; ads that slow down the browsing experience; ads that eat up mobile data.
Crystal, one of the most popular iOS ad blockers, discovered that half of its own users would be willing to view ads that weren’t too distracting, resource-heavy or data-intensive. Similarly, Adblock Plus, one of the most popular desktop ad blockers, found similar results, with 75% of users saying they would be happy to view ads that met their “Acceptable Ads” criteria.
Ad block users are reasonable, and opinionated, people that should be brought into the conversation rather than demonised. The IAB’s recent ‘Publisher Ad Blocking Primer’ confirms this, recommending publishers seek a ‘DEAL’ with readers by explaining how advertising enables free content, then either lifting restrictions or limiting the content readers can see based on their choice of whether or not to continue blocking and enabling consumers to make an informed choice. For advertisers who would like to ensure their ads are good quality, the IAB’s LEAN guidelines are a good place to start.
Paid channels should only be part of your marketing
The current frenzy around ad blocking reminds me in many ways of the “mobilegeddon” fears that were circulating in early 2015 when Google updated its algorithm to treat mobile sites differently. In the end the change wasn’t as far-reaching and severe as people feared, however it did give marketers an opportunity to revisit their online marketing strategy.
The same is happening here: advertisers have an unusual opportunity here to find out more about what their audiences actually want, and refine their advertising strategy accordingly. These users aren’t just unhappy with ads, they are also actually telling us why they’re not happy, and advertisers should be doing something with this information.
Marketing should always involve a mix of different activities spanning across owned, earned and paid media. All of these mediums should be used in a balanced way, with there being equal care to how you talk to your users whether they are on or off your site.
Lots of people are still not using ad blockers
Finally it’s good to keep some perspective on things. While sources vary from source to source, according to Mezzobit in December 2015 the UK had an ad blocking penetration of 12.8%. While obviously this is cause for concern, it must be remembered that this means 87.2% of users aren’t using ad blockers. The number of ad block usersNow this number is growing so advertiserswe need to react, but we are at a stage where the issue is much easier to tackle due to the adoption level.
Ad blocking is causing a great deal of soul-searching amongst advertisers and publishers, and raises some interesting concerns about alternative funding models for publishing and modern adtech. However online advertising is not about to disappear: by listening carefully to users advertisers can not only tackle the concerns and increased use of ad block services, but make online advertising more effective overall.
By Charlie Ashe
Head of digital strategy
Ve Interactive