Dive Brief:

• The World Federation of Advertisers is taking a stance on ad-blocking technology and is asking its members to put the consumer first with digital ads.
• The Interactive Advertising Bureau came to the same epiphany in October, with a VP issuing a statement admitting “we messed up” by putting revenue over user experience with online advertising.
• The WFA counts as members some of the world’s largest advertisers, including brands such as Coca-Cola, Unilever and P&G.

Dive Insight:

The World Federation of Advertisers has joined the Interactive Advertising Bureau in recognizing that ad-blocking technology is a pressing issue for digital advertising, and that the problem has been largely created from within by not taking the user experience into account.

WFA Managing Director Stephan Loerke told Ad Age, "The Internet advertising experience is not satisfactory for consumers. As brand owners, we have to take a longer-term view and create an acceptable, sustainable advertising environment – not push things to people in a way that turns them off."

He added, "We don't yet have a concrete action plan; this is the beginning of a journey. We need to address the issues – to get a better understanding of what generates rejection, and to secure higher standards across the industry. We must be guided by what consumers do and don't want to see."

Illustrating the scope of the ad-blocking issue, a report from PageFair and Adobe found global use of ad-blocking tech up 41% this year as of June, with a projected cost of more than $41 billion next year.