Opinion

Ad blockers could be really good for everyone

brad bennettAd blocking is becoming increasingly popular but Brad Bennett argues this should be a good thing for everyone, despite the challenges it brings.

Imagine the time when we no longer have to pay for unwanted display advertising on our phones! 

Apple has confirmed its support for ad blockers with iOS 9. This is the last major piece of the platform puzzle. Soon iOS, Android, Chrome, Firefox, Edge and many other web-enabled platforms will allow ad blocking. In other words, nearly all Australians will be able to run ad blockers on their mobile and desktop devices.

Sure, ad blockers require something extra. Users have to actually install and configure the software. Historically, this has limited ad blocking to the more tech savvy online communities – i.e. gaming. But that seems to now be changing.

Globally, Adobe estimates that the use of ad blocking software grew by 41 per cent year-on-year.  This threatens to kill a good chunk of the $4.6 billion Australian online advertising industry. Specifically, the IAB estimates that Australian brands spend $2.2 billion on “general display” and “mobile” advertising. Those of us that work in the industry know that some portion of this $2.2 billion pie goes to creative agencies for “churn and burn” production, media agencies for lazy network buys, and publishers as passive display revenue. As display dies, it threatens to take these cash cow revenue streams with it (the jury’s out on how programmatic will get around this).

This also threatens billions in revenue for brands that rely on digital display to drive traffic and sales. Year on year spend for online advertising in Australia is up over 7 per cent, well above the growth in GDP. This indicates that Australian brands are generally able to use online advertising to achieve superior results relative to other channels. Brands lose this powerful tool if their ads are increasingly not being seen.

Put the user first

But this makes sense, at least from a user perspective. Removing unwanted ads means your content loads faster. It means you see less annoying corporate messaging. And on mobile it means your battery lasts longer and you use less data (how much does it suck to pay to download things you don’t want in the first place?).

Standard online display advertising is a relic of traditional media thinking applied to internet publishing. When considering the creative potential of online media, why would we limit brands to three panels of messaging and a call to action button with sheen? It upsets me every time I see a potentially compelling idea rendered lifeless by being squeezed into a mobile .gif in some random network context.

And it seems like more and more people outside the industry tend to agree and are taking action.

What’s next?

So, do ad blockers mean the death of online advertising? Thankfully, they do not. It would be great to see the advertising and publishing industries pool their creative powers to substantially overhaul online display.

Some brands are certainly using online display in amazing, relevant, contextual ways. The problem is that quality is not the norm. And I’m not sure we’ll make it the norm before the current trends in ad blocking run their course, rendering old school display mute.

Lucky for us, many types of online advertising are outside the reach of ad blockers. Great brand experiences and micro-moments are being created across content, social engagement, YouTube, native digital experiences, apps, opted-in broadcast, and more. Taking advantage of these opportunities and creating the next compelling content and formats is what our industry should focus on.

As users rapidly silence online display, the challenge to our industry is to move beyond the banner, button and tile, but the upside is that this presents us with an amazing creative opportunity. We get to develop relevant, contextual digital channels that properly engage people in an increasingly mobile world. And the money is there to reward good ideas.

Ad blocking will force online advertising to evolve into something more user friendly and engaging. This is good for both consumers and brands (even if it threatens part of our industry).

  • Brad Bennett is head of technology at The Hallway

 

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