With the increasing shift to online advertising, many businesses are facing the growing issue of ad blocking software. According to PageFair, 22% of the world or 1.9 billion people are currently blocking ads on the mobile web. That number is only going to grow and the obstacles that companies have to face to reach their customers will too.
In September of 2015, Apple announced that it was going to start allowing ad blocking apps and software on their devices. This created an internet frenzy and left many people divided on the matter. The ad blocking apps soared to the top of the App Store. Many people were happy to have this ability but many also feared what this would do to their online revenue.
Their fears were confirmed when Adobe and PageFair released their joint study that showed $22 million in revenue was lost in 2015 due to the effects of ad blocking software. That is a large amount of revenue lost and the numbers are only going to grow in 2016.
How Do Ad-Blocker’s Work?
When you install ad blocking software onto your computer or mobile device, it is conserving the amount of data that is being used and increasing the speed of your download time. They do this by sorting the ad data from the website content data; so when you go to a site the software only allows the website content to be downloaded and not the ads. This in turn gives the user a faster download speed.
The Opposing Views
Ad blocking developers say that they have developed the software to make sure the consumer has a pleasant browsing experience. An experience that is not bombarded by advertisements. And the opposing side, consisting of a lot of companies and online publishers, argues that ad blocking is defying an implicit rule among internet users which requires all content to be treated equally.
Many people make their livelihood off of online advertisements, affecting large companies all the way down to small online publishers.
A Happy Medium?
There are obviously two very independent sides to this, however, is there a possibility to come to a happy medium? In a perfect world consumers would only see ads that are relevant and useful to them but they also don’t want to feel like their privacy is being invaded through all the tracking some companies do online.
Is there a way to have ads that benefit the consumer and the company behind it? This is a solution that many people are trying to find. For right now ad blocking is legal, however, on the basis of the net neutrality laws it has not been challenged in the courts yet. For now companies are going to have to be hyper aware of how this affects their consumer reach and their sales.
Companies can lean on social media and more traditional forms of advertising as a back up to online advertising. If you are a business that is being affected by the use of ad blocking software and are looking for some guidance, you should contact your advertising agency.
Integrated Advertising Inc. is a full service agency based in Jacksonville, FL that can help you with all aspects of promoting a company. We are known for our expertise in strategic planning and negotiating, our award-winning commercial production, and promotional and event management. Visit http://www.intadvertising.com/ or call (904) 296-2585 for more information.
See also:
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/21/opinion/sunday/the-ad-blocking-wars.html
