Fix Mobile Web Browsing - Or Else!
Jules Polonetsky
CEO @ Future of Privacy Forum | Advancing Responsible Data Practices
Above: Washington Post mobile site, viewed using an ad blocker.
I am not a fan of ad blockers. I understand that ads online pay for free content. But I wanted to understand better why people use ad blockers, so we can learn how to respond to their concerns. Is it due to privacy concerns, or intrusive ads, pop-ups that block content, or worries about ads hogging data use? Are users aware of malvertising ads that can infect their computers? I have been testing ad blockers the last few days...and I have now turned them back off. And I miss them.
Industry friends -- if you want to understand why people who try an ad blocker like it, please do what I did. Ads on a mobile web browser, that are small and polite, no big difference. But all those other mobile ads that get in your way, slide around the page, block content..gone! And pages load noticeably quicker. So then I went and tested on my PC....and again, web browsing got way better. My life was just a little bit better for a few days.
I will keep the ad blockers off. I do want my reporter friends at online publications to get paid. I don't want to have to register and pay everywhere I go, which will be the result if we all block ads. I don't want the only mobile web to be mobile apps (ad blockers don't work in mobile apps). I would pay a couple bucks a month for the quality sites, where actual writers are paid to create content, as opposed to the re-purposed stuff on many that carries an enticing click-bait headline re-packaged content from elsewhere. But many users can't afford to or will not, and online media will suffer, as in the long run both ads and subscription models are likely to be needed to support online media.
I will keep the ad blockers off. But if the average user gets a taste of ad blocking, they are not going back. So we better clean up the browsing experience, starting with mobile....quickly. Or else.
What do you think? Have you used an ad blocker? Why did you download it? Do you still use it? Have you used an ad blocker on mobile? If sites beging to block access to users of ad blockers, would you pay for content?
Jules Polonetsky is Executive Director of the Future of Privacy Forum. Join FPF to help advance responsible data practices. Follow him @JulesPolonetsky on Twitter.
Student at south central high school
9 年what is this about
Digital Media Optimizer
9 年Tom 1) Its easy to see but the reality of math does not work. 2) The consumer does not want this. If I'm wrong it would need to be done by all at the same time with common currency.
CEO @ evAI | Wirtschafts- & Politische Analysen |?Market Intelligence Expert |?SDRC (Disinformation Research)
9 年I'm not sure, if the best solution is to create more meaningful ads, if you're on the site to find specific content. In contrast it could be even more distracting. The main issue with ads is, that they might enable a reading experience again, since most of the ads are there just to stop you from reading, an attention robbery without legal persecution.
Master Of The Long Idea, Founder, CEO, CCO of Immortology Advertising + Immortology Outdoors
9 年The best solution is to create ads so meaningful, entertaining and/or informative people don't want to block them. To accomplish this, two things must happen: 1. Clients must demand (and start paying for) great ideas from their marketing partners. Clancy and Dyson reported in Admap in 2014 that creative has over four times more influence than media efficiency on profit impact. https://www.data2decisions.com/index.php/latest-news/87-adm-0214. And here's a link to a study that found "a euro invested in a highly creative campaign had nearly double the impact of a euro spent on a noncreative campaign". https://hbr.org/2013/06/creativity-in-advertising-when-it-works-and-when-it-doesnt 2. Publishers need to set higher standards for ads appearing on their sites. One way to improve the quality of ads being submitted is for publishers to offers special discounts to for ads their visitors like. Those that are annoying should pay more. 3. How ads are displayed needs to be radically changed. Intrusive page take-overs and pop-ups should be eliminated. On the other hand, ads need to have more space to get messages across - but these branded spaces need to be seamlessly worked into the design. (Native is a start but way too limiting for creative shops and not really scaleable.) Great writers, art directors and designers have been creating ads people love for decades. I was taught very early on that if you want to get someone to read, watch or interact with your messaging you need to make it worthwhile to them. There's an art to that and doing it right is not cheap.