UM boycotts News Limited autoplay video
UM CEO Mat Baxter says the agency will boycott the purchase of preroll advertising on autoplay video on News Limited websites, after the publisher yesterday announced it would introduce autoplay videos from next week.
The decision, by one of Australia’s biggest media agencies, is in line with its existing policy of boycotting preroll on Fairfax websites because of a perceived negative impact on the consumer experience.
This morning Baxter told Mumbrella: “Our policy remains that we are not a big fan of it, and that is the position that we’ve got. We won’t be buying any videos that have autoplay on it.”
“That stance remains in place regardless of the News Limited decision,” said the media buyer who books advertising on behalf a number government agencies, along with brands such as ING Direct, Kmart and McDonald’s Queensland.
I like the stance. When will they stop buying autoplay videos on TV?
curious. An intermediary talking tough when it’s not even their money being spent.
since when does a media buyer adopt a position of not buying media inventory that an advertising client might want?
no matter what an individual buyer and an advertiser might themselves think about the media format, UM is going to sit over the top and dictate that they can’t buy News Ltd
is this just posturing and puffery? throwing around weight that you actually don’t have?
I’ve had the absolute light daylights scared out of me with mysterious video auto plays going on somewhere on some browser window…..not to mention the kids waking up when their “old man” fails to find the mute button in time! User feedback….PIGS ARSE! UM, stand strong, at least someone’s got their finger on the pulse!
I-Effing-HATE AUTOPLAY
actually I hate video ads in general. At least give us the option to skip it like on youtube!!!! forcing me to watch the same ad over and over again while surfing news sites is almost as annoying as pop-up windows/ads.
If we get all the rest of their stuff for free, why can’t they set the terms (in their own space) as to what goes with that?! I find the advertising response to that really baffling. I think it should only be an issue for paid subscribers (and I am one, to both our major newspapers) who should be allowed to click out – hey why didn’t 7, 9 and 10 allow us to do that all these years!!
issue isn;t clearly visible videos – but if News have another content piece half way down the page does this start playing automatically (including a paid for advertisement) that nobody can see????
grab for cash!
Who the f%&k is UM and why should we care???
Be nice to have headlines without accronyms so we know who you are talking about
Hi Confused,
UM is the correct name of the agency once known as Universal McCann. But yes, you do have to go all the way to the second paragraph before you discover they are “one of Australia’s largest media agencies”.
Cheers,
Tim – Mumbrella
This is a very public position to take when News are a newly acquired UM client.
awkward but wholeheartedly agree
Isn’t The Australian website already autoplay on video pre-rolls, and has been for ages??
Good on UM for taking a stand. Good principles still matter.
I’m going to say by the fairly blunt comment by Confused that he’s a new listener and first time caller.
Also, is it “high value video inventory” if people switch off?
Amazing stand for an agency. Great leadership.
The right call….until Mr Williams taps him on the shoulder!
Fairfax’s autoplay is very annoying. Matt Baxter has made a sensible business decision.
This bloke is making the right call. The smh.com.au auto play drives me nuts, particularly if I’ve been listening to music earlier in the day and have forgotten to turn the speakers down. Scares the sh*t out of me. Plus, sometimes the screen is still refreshing and I can’t get to the STOP icon before it begins. F*ckers. Why wilfully create bad vibes among your users? Seriously, what kind of jargon-spouting digi-kid salami would do that? And for what? A few thousand extra hits that the advertisers KNOW aren’t genuine. Not only that, now your customers have got the sh*ts – this is the emotion they associate with your product. I click to READ the words. I don’t care if I have to look at ads. If I want to watch the freaking video I’LL press PLAY, not you. Dig?
I know who UM are.
@Norelle. i do not pay for any newspaper subscriptions. When there is a video that I might want to watch (generally patched onto to a rehashed piece of PR), I simply go and watch it on YouTube.
I can’t wait for The Guardian to arrive. They will publish their content properly, with the users experience firmly in mind.
@NS – you obviously dont know how media is bought in Australia. Media agencies (like it or not) do have considerable power and weight, weilding buying power aggregated from their clients money.
The odd client may overrule UM’ media plans, as you point out, but most clients leave the media implementation planning and buying to the media agency – that is after all what they are paid for.
norelle – comparing autoplay on a website to television is apples and oranges. You click on an article to read the article, not to be blared at with an obnoxious ad. You turn on the television, you know what you are going to get.
To Mr Confused……This is primarily an industry website and 99.9% of people who use this site will know exactly who UM are.
to the other confused chap, I hope you subscribe to The Guardian then
@Confused – autoroll suck, i hate the experience on SMH, but if you’re signed in you can turn autoroll OFF no? don’t the Guardian lose 50million quid a year? experience the goodness while it lasts.
@ Norelle. I try to limit my subscriptions to a minimum. I enjoy navigating around the web, visiting sites as I see fit, rather than receiving a million and one emails, or feeds etc
I have a few apps on the phone, which are news related and who knows, if The Guardian begins restricting use of it’s stories on sites like Farfax’s, then I might subscribe to them, we shall see.
It will be interesting to see how The Guardian goes over the next 3 years in terms of revenues. Opening up that business to the world, could be an extremely lucrative strategy.