Advertisers accused of being out of touch over bid to block ad skipping services
The advent of a number of technologies empowering viewers to skip adverts has led to accusations that advertisers are out of touch, following the decision by Fox to attempt to block one such service.
Dish Network’s Autohop service spares viewers the inconvenience of sitting through commercials on pre-recorded content by automatically skipping through them. Negating the need to use a fast forward button.
Remarking that this tiff represented a ‘disconnect’ between advertisers and the public AdBlock Plus co-founder Till Faida, said: “Technologies that allow users to skip advertising are already prevalent on the internet, and it’s no surprise to see that it is now taking off in other mediums too. The advertising industry needs to respect that people are users, and not JUST consumers; and understand that treating the public in such a way is unacceptable behaviour.
“The advertising industry is ever-evolving and there is now a need to look at these intrusive methods, and re-evaluate exactly what the public want.
“Advertisers who practice responsible advertising are, and will be getting a lot more traction, through understanding their audience and what interests them, rather than bombarding them with annoying and intrusive content.”