With companies like Adblock Plus trying to change the future of advertising by encouraging better ad formats and innovation, the hands of agencies, publishers and brands are forced to re-think strategies to put the user experience first.
Of the over 198 million people globally who run ad blockers each month, gaming and entertainment segments are hit the hardest because they have more sophisticated, tech-savvy audiences, Rebecca Markarian, senior vice president of digital and social media for the Ayzenberg Group, a full-service advertising agency, tells [a]listdaily. (Editor’s note: [a]listdaily is the media arm of the Ayzenberg Group.)
This industry needs to aggressively push ourselves away from banner-type ads to content and native advertising to continue to reach our audiences. The fragmentation of the platforms these audiences are getting information from is also getting more diverse, adding to the complexity, Markarian said.
According to anti-ad blocking firm PageFair, ad blocking estimated to cost publishers nearly $22 billion during 2015. In the U.S., ad blocking grew by 48 percent to reach 45 million active users in 12 months up to June 2015 a growth of 41 percent globally.
IGN’s high-tech audience of 80 million users each month is running ad-block at a ballooning rate of 40 percent compared to 25 percent last year.
“We don’t have a lot of data on who an ad blocker is, but my guess is those are some of the most valuable people that advertisers want to reach the most,” said Todd Northcutt, IGN s vice president of Product Innovation, per Digiday. “How do you appeal to your audience in ways where they are not explicitly telling you ‘I don’t want this ‘ I do wonder if they are objecting to display ads and pre rolls ads with ad blocker and if reaching them through another vehicle will be effective.”
The trends don t lie and the message for marketers is as clear as day: it s time to make a change. Markarian says it s not enough just to think mobile and desktop anymore either.
We have to think about gaming consoles, home entertainment devices, social channels and customize all the content to that particular channel putting the user experience first and foremost. It s both exciting and challenging. In 2016 marketers will definitely have their work cut out for them.
