Ad quality is in the eye of the beholder…and the blocker
Consumer use of ad blockers has grown dramatically in the past year. Some reports put the increase at 48%, and the estimated cost to publishers from the missed advertising revenue at $22 billion on desktop alone. The stakes are high, and that has initiated a lot of commentary and prognostication about ad blocking, what prompts it, and how the ad industry can adjust.
Ad quality is in the eye of the beholder…and the blocker
Some surveys on this issue declare that users are most worried about privacy. Others blame pages bloated with excessive numbers of ads. Still others point to the quality of ads themselves, with auto-play and pop-up ads squarely falling into the latter camp. What is inarguable is that people are installing software that blocks ads because of a subpar user experience – and both advertisers and publishers need to take note.
User experience is composed of many factors. The IAB identified several in a recent study, chief among them the annoying/ intrusive nature of some ads. Of course, one user’s definition of “annoying”, “intrusive”, or “quality” can differ from another person’s. Those definitions also tend to vary according to environment. In other words, what bothers a person on a mobile site may be acceptable to them on a desktop site.
The smaller screen size and limited bandwidth of mobile devices necessitate even more care and consideration. It’s also important to remember that users are usually “on the go” when they’re on a mobile device. They may be quickly trying to access a specific piece of content and not have extra time to wait for or navigate through a long, complicated advertising experience.
Ads need to suit the environment. Among other things, that means the ratio of ads to content and the types of ads run must be adjusted for smaller screens. Users are unable to jump between browser tabs on a mobile device as they do on desktops, making pop-up ads much more annoying.
Most mobile users intuitively understand the issue of limited bandwidth, having been in situations where mobile networks are overtaxed or slower than the desktop experience. So, it’s not hard to understand dissatisfaction with ads that take a long time to load and become a barrier to accessing content. And bandwidth costs not only time, but also money. Most users pay for bandwidth based on what they use, so spending time waiting for ads to load costs real money and belies notions of a “free internet.”
There is no one-size-fits-all solution to dissuade users from ad blocking. Instead of searching for a universal fix, we can solve a majority of the ad-blocking problem by helping publishers build a superior user experience that fits each environment. It is the publishers who own the relationship with the users and are best placed to understand which types of ad experiences are suitable for their audience. The publishers who know and respect their users make better partners for advertisers. They can help guide ad quality and experience to be more effective.
As ad tech platforms becomes increasingly woven into online advertising, the selection of the right tech partner becomes ever more critical for publishers and advertisers. Working with the right tech partners has significant impact on overall user experience. A key role for ad tech platforms is to facilitate the right connections between publishers, users and advertisers. At OpenX we do this by empowering publishers to make the best decisions about which ads are suitable for their audience. For example, we know that auto-audio ads detract from the user experience and therefore have chosen to block these ads by default. Our platform also automatically protects users from risks like malware and forced redirects.
Publishers have direct control over the ad experience, but should seek guidance from partners to ensure they’re doing all they can to preserve the user experience. On a platform like OpenX, publishers have the ability to set complex rules based on creative brand, category, type, language, and other factors, resulting in a better experience for both users and advertisers. Publishers can also work with companies that help monitor and address bad ads automatically, like PubNation, an ad quality management company that crowd-sources analytics about ads that degrade the user experience, helping publishers address issues immediately.
Most importantly, tech partners should offer publishers’ insights that can help them guide advertising quality and experience. They should allow publishers to see the specific ads that ran on their properties and how these ads perform based on multiple factors, including latency, so that publishers can assess which ads meet the user experience requirements for each specific site.
As an advertiser, what can you do to ensure your ads reach your audience? When choosing where to place your ads, thoroughly vet publishers and their technology partners because that will tell you whether they have the tools needed to raise the bar on quality. Then, ask questions to learn more about their processes: How do they monitor creatives? Are there any formats they automatically exclude? How do they use insights to understand which formats perform best? A real partnership is one where publishers, advertisers, and technology partners actively share a commitment to a better holistic user experience, inclusive of content and campaigns.
John Murphy, VP of Marketplace Quality, OpenX