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Adblocking EE

EE looking at how to give its 27m customers ad-blocking control

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By Jennifer Faull, Deputy Editor

November 22, 2015 | 3 min read

EE has entered the ad blocking debate with the mobile giant’s chief executive Olaf Swantee revealing that it has kicked off an “internal strategic review" on how to give its 27 million customers control over the type and number of ads they receive.

Speaking to The Sunday Telegraph, Swantee said: “We think it’s important that, over time, customers start to be offered more choice and control over the level and intensity of ads on mobile.

“For EE, this is not about ad blocking, but about starting an important debate around customer choice, controls and the level of ads customers receive.

“This is an important debate that needs to happen soon. That’s why we’ve kicked off a strategic review internally to start considering our plans.”

Depending on the outcome of the review, Britain’s biggest mobile operator could give users the option to block certain types of advertising on mobile web and in app, including banner ads and auto-play videos.

However, it would not extend to all advertising with Swantee recognising that “when done well” it can be a “valued part of the experience”.

“Not all ads are bad. When a business gets it right, it’s appreciated and sparks a connection. But when it’s intrusive or crass it can drive people crazy,” he said.

While ad-blocking has been a long-running industry issue, it was with Apple’s decision in September to allow its iOS users to block ads they see online on Safari that the debate took its biggest turn. Since then numerous brands, publishers and tech companies have waded in on what is arguably the biggest threat to the online advertising industry.

Yesterday, Yahoo announced it had begun an anti-ad blocking trial on Yahoo Mail which will detect when account holders are using an ad blocker and request that they disable it.

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