Oliver Gold, Commercial Director at YOC considers the implications for ads across mobile devices now that the EU has outlawed network wide ad blocking. Does it mean that advertisers will carry on as they have been doing before with pushing out unwanted and unwelcome ads to consumers or does it mean that ad tech companies will become more creative in their approach – they’ve been thrown a lifeline so are they going to grab hold of it?
So the plans by European mobile phone companies to block advertisements across their networks have been blocked themselves, with new rules by for EU telecoms declaring that it’s not legal. Consumers must decide for themselves whether they want to install ad blocking apps on their phones or not. I think it’s the right way to go but there’s no doubt that the whole issue of ad blocking has created a split between telecoms companies and publishers. Ironic really given that both sides are so dependent upon each other.
So what about advertisers? Where do they sit in all this? You’ve only got to run a quick Google search to see what the ad industry thinks of ad blocking. “Ad Blocking is bad for programmatic advertising”, “Rise of ad blocking software threatens online revenue”, the naysayers have been out in force for a while warning us to be prepared for the dark times ahead. Then this EU announcement comes out and it suddenly doesn’t seem so bad. We’ve been thrown a lifeline and perhaps advertisers can carry on as they were for a while yet.
The reasons consumers download ad blockers have been well documented. The issues of irrelevance, annoyance and excessive data usage crop up time and time again, yet they continue to be the main reasons people turn away from ads on mobile devices. Just when is the industry going to sit up and take notice? In some ways this recent EU announcement hasn’t helped the cause, so what are we going to do about it?
This whole issue boils down to creativity. Not just in the content and the targeting but also in the way advertising is delivered. I think it’s fair to say that wherever there is advertising there are attempts to avoid it. It’s easy to skip through TV advertising and go straight to the programme, but then something pops up that resonates with us and we want to see it. Whether it’s the John Lewis Christmas ad or Dairy Milk’s drumming Gorilla, for the majority of us these ads were welcomed into our homes because they were creatively made and expertly delivered. Switch to mobile ads and the challenge for advertisers in terms of creativity is pretty much the same. The difference however, is in the format and delivery of the ad.
It was announced recently that Google is cracking down on websites that show “intrusive” full-page adverts and pop-ups on their mobile sites. It plans to downgrade sites using “interstitial” pop-ups in its search rankings unless they change their ways. In a recent blog the search giant claimed that “Pages showing intrusive interstitials provide a poorer experience to users than other pages where content is immediately accessible.” However, not all pop-ups will be affected. Age verifications and messages alerting users that the website uses cookies are allowed, as are overlaid banner adverts. It’s yet another opportunity for ad tech companies like us to be one step ahead and create formats that comply with the end user as well as Google. There is a rationale behind creating rather bigger adverts, especially for branding purposes. Not long ago we developed the Understitial Ad. This gives advertisers the possibility to deliver the same brand message, similar to an Interstitial size without disrupting the user experience. The ad is then layed under the content and naturally appears when scrolling over it. This technology has also been developed for video ads. It’s developments in ad technology like this that meet all the compliance standards while satisfying the needs of the end user, and it’s key to the buoyancy and progress of this industry.
Publishers have a big part to play in this too. They are collecting stacks data from sources including app usage, online browsing behaviour, subscriptions systems and digital kiosks. They need to utilise their CRM data much more, and have 2- way conversations with their audiences to work out who is blocking ads and why. For many publishers this information is already there and should be used to address some of the issues.
There is no doubt that ad blocking has diminished the impact ads have on mobile and the poor experience generated by online ads has caused the adoption of ad blocking tools. However, our response to this will determine the future of this industry and the experience of all online browsers. Consumer behaviour will always dictate strategy and it’s up to ad tech companies like us to make the changes necessary for the mobile ad experience to be engaging and a value for consumers.
By Oliver Gold
Commercial Director
YOC