What Ad Blocking Means For Digital Marketers
No, it’s not the end
If you’ve missed the recent ad blocking headlines, maybe you’ve been lucky enough to be on vacation with no wifi - it’s been all over the digital marketing news.
Some see this move as the end of free content. Others think that the internet as we know it is dead. Agencies and ad tech platforms are fearing for their lives.
They certainly have something to worry about. According to a PageFair/Adobe study cited in Folio Magazine, “U.S. websites forfeited over $5 billion in ad revenue in 2014 due to blockers. It expects that loss to double in 2015 and nearly double again next year.”
A recent Sourcepoint and comScore study revealed that 12% of all pageviews in the United States are impacted by ad blockers. It’s even tougher abroad. Over 30% of pageviews in France are affected by ad blockers.
On mobile in China and India, where mobile ad blockers are common, advertisers face a whopping 8.45% average ad blocking rate. While the rate for mobile is low in the U.S. for now (0.1%), the high average in Asia demonstrates where the U.S. is headed now that ad blockers are available in the Apple App Store.
If you’re trying to reach younger audiences, it’s going to be harder than ever to reach them with display ads. The incidence of ad blocking software is highest amongst the 18-24 and 25-34 age groups. It’s time to get creative if you need to reach these younger, tech-savvy users.
But it’s not over yet.
Ad blocking technology largely impacts the programmatic display ad industry - but brands still have a lot to work with when it comes to digital ad campaigns. Digital ad spend is still growing significantly, and will make up almost 20% of global advertising budgets by 2019. It just needs to be done smartly.
While the display ad industry sorts itself out, there are two tried-and-true methods to reach audiences online:
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personal, targeted social and search ads
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original, value-add content marketing
For the most part, ad blockers can’t block native content or social and search ads. Next generation products must help marketers spend across these reliable channels as ultimately, the market is moving away from display and old cookie-based tracking methods.
“Publishers besieged by ad blockers will be certain to find refuge within the walled gardens of the likes of Snapchat, Apple and Facebook. The big platforms have been so far shielded from the wrath of ad blockers, particularly on mobile, which is one of the many advantages they have over their publishing partners.” -Ricardo Bilton, Digiday
Cross-device, multi-touch tactics are the way of the future anyways. Social advertising allows advertisers to target users based on behavior and interest in increasingly fine granularity. And tools like Accomplice can help marketers optimize these campaigns for maximum cost-efficiency across channels like Facebook, Twitter, and Google AdWords.
“Concerned advertisers would do well to note that millennials did not universally reject ads as irrelevant. A few digital ad types saw a majority of millennial internet users...rating them at least somewhat relevant, including retargeted ads and social media ads. Millennials were also fairly warm to paid search ads, while mobile ads fared especially poorly.” -eMarketer
Now’s the time to double down on social media and search ads. These ads are less intrusive and exist in context of the user’s journey. When supported by top-notch content marketing, brands can promote their unique voice and provide true value to their audience.
Targeted social & search ads will not only help you avoid ad blockers, but will help you find your audience where they actually spend time - and where they’ve proven they actually want to encounter your content.
Influencer Marketing | Performance & Affiliate | Founder at shoppinglinks.com | Speaker, Entrepreneur and Writer
9 年Great article! Thanks for sharing...
CEO ?? COINResearch | 150+ Keynotes | Host of X Spaces & One of the longest running crypto podcasts, Bad Crypto | Strategic Advisor. Author. | Futurist.
9 年So true. Great post.