Article

Nathan Jones
Nathan Jones 15 April 2016
Categories Advertising, Technology

The Current Internet Advertising Model Is Over

Ad blocking is approaching mainstream use. If the advertising industry doesn't change, in a few years it will hardly be able to reach anyone online. But do they realise this?

David Moore, chairman of the IAB Tech Lab's board of directors and president of WPP Digital isn’t happy. He’s seen the latest figures for ad blockers and he wants something done about it.

“I advocated for the top 100 websites to, beginning on the same day, not let anybody with ad blockers turned on [to view their content]," said Moore. He added that IAB members present had thought it "a good idea but the possibility of pulling it off [was] slim."”

Or to put it another way.

“Hey Mr Publisher, you should stop people from viewing your content because they are blocking my ads.”

The public is increasingly telling the ad industry that it doesn’t want to see their ads. Is the answer to force them to look at ads or is it to change? To offer something the public actually want to see in a way that doesn't degrade the environment its hosted in? The public clearly like the brands and products behind the ads. They follow them on social media, share their content, subscribe to their emails and contribute their own time making content and tributes to their favourite brands. Clearly, there’s no problem with the brands or their marketing in general. The problem seems to be very specifically about the ads.

 

adblocking-growth.JPG
Source: Pagefair and Adobe Internet Ad Blocking Report 2015 http://downloads.pagefair.com/reports/2015_report-the_cost_of_ad_blocking.pdf

So what is it people don’t like? A list of some of the main things:

- Interrupted reading experiences from pop-ups

- Slowed down page loading times

- Pages that jump about while ads load causing misplaced clicks

- Increased mobile data usage and costs from ads, particularly autoplay videos

- Waiting 30 seconds before being allowed to watch the video they’ve clicked on

- Irrelevant, untargeted messages

- Security vulnerabilities in Flash, exposing users to attacks from hackers

 

The cash the ad industry provide publishers is coming at a hefty cost to user experience. Might more people visit these same publishers’ sites if they were more pleasant to browse? It might be time to realise that the advertising model that was thought up for the internet just doesn’t work.

 

adblocking-Europe.JPG
Source: Pagefair and Adobe Internet Ad Blocking Report 2015

 

I’m not even going to talk about bot traffic, unintentional clicks/taps, ad blindness, cookie law, privacy concerns and all the other issues internet advertising has right now. Ad blocking is trumping all of those. The internet advertising industry is the proverbial boiling frog, wondering if might have to do something one day about those little bubbles rising up around it. UK use of ad blocking is at 20% right now and grew by 82% in the last year. So in just over 1 year, ads won’t reach half of UK internet users. And that’s the savvier, more internet-literate half. The numbers are even higher in countries like Germany, Greece and Poland. I don’t know why the IAB are even talking about “trying to get ahead of it”. It’s already over.

Author bio:

Nathan Jones is a Digital Marketing professional working for the full service digital marketing agency The Big Group. If you enjoyed this blog, there are many others you can read on our website.

Please login or register to add a comment.

Contribute Now!

Loving our articles? Do you have an insightful post that you want to shout about? Well, you've come to the right place! We are always looking for fresh Doughnuts to be a part of our community.

Popular Articles

See all
How to Review a Website — A Guide for Beginners

How to Review a Website — A Guide for Beginners

A company website is crucial for any business's digital marketing strategy. To keep up with the changing trends and customer buying behaviors, it's important to review and make necessary changes regularly...

Digital Doughnut Contributor
Digital Doughnut Contributor 25 March 2024
Read more
The Impact of New Technology on Marketing

The Impact of New Technology on Marketing

Technology has impacted every part of our lives. From household chores to business disciplines and etiquette, there's a gadget or app for it. Marketing has changed dramatically over the years, but what is the...

Alex Lysak
Alex Lysak 3 April 2024
Read more
The World Is Shrinking: 6 Degrees of Separation Is Now 2!

The World Is Shrinking: 6 Degrees of Separation Is Now 2!

Six degrees of separation is not just a party game, it's a reality. Everyone is the world is interconnected, and thanks to social media, that connectedness gets tighter and richer each day. See the research...

Scott Christley
Scott Christley 9 August 2017
Read more
10 Factors that Influence Customer Buying Behaviour Online

10 Factors that Influence Customer Buying Behaviour Online

Now is an era where customers take the center stags influencing business strategies across industries. No business can afford to overlook factors that could either break the customer experience or even pose a risk of...

Edward Roesch
Edward Roesch 4 June 2018
Read more
Cats and Dogs Boost Your Business By 300%. Here’s How.

Cats and Dogs Boost Your Business By 300%. Here’s How.

It’s the age-old question that has endured ever since the creation of the internet: are you a cat person or a dog person? Or do you love both cats and dogs? We have both dog lovers and cat lovers at Sortlist, so it...

Aline Strouvens
Aline Strouvens 27 August 2021
Read more