Dive Brief:
- Both publishers and non-profits alike have come out against ad-blocking technology, and The New York Times says it is working to improve the ads it delivers in an effort to get users of the software to put it away.
- UNICEF has tested unblockable ad messages on the website of a Swedish newspaper, and have seen higher clickthrough rates than for banner ads that ad-blocking tech would eliminate from the visitor’s user experience.
- Meanwhile, the IAB has introduced new ad principles called L.E.A.N. Ads designed to improve digital advertising from the web users’ experience perspective.
Dive Insight:
“We oppose ad blocking,” New York Times Co. CEO Mark Thompson said in an earnings call, but simply opposing the technology isn’t going to make it go away, or solve the underlying reason why web users want to block ads in the first place. Both the NYT and UNICEF have come out against ad-blocking software recently as a threat to their bottom line.
UNICEF has actually been testing way around ad-blocking on a Swedish newspaper website by presenting visitors who are using ad-blocking tech with a message saying, “Children’s rights should never be blocked. Help us make their voices heard. Sign up for children’s right to complain here.” The non-profit reports the unblockable message achieved a 3% clickthrough rate which is higher than the average CTR for Swedish websites, and that 10% of those who did clickthrough converted on the UNICEF website.
For its part, the New York Times is working to improve the ads it serves. Chief Revenue Officer Meredith Kopit Levien said in a Wall Street Journal article, “We’re hard at work at making better digital advertising and creating more relevant experiences for our users that kind of match the surrounding New York Times product and editorial experience.”
Also seeking to improve digital advertising is the Interactive Advertising Bureau with its new L.E.A.N. Ads initiative. The acronym stands for: Light, Encrypted, Ad choice supported and Non-invasive ads.
The IAB will host a series of "Town Hall" meetings starting on Nov. 2 to get feedback on its L.E.A.N. Ads initiative.
