Ad blocking tool attached to Chrome may actually bring Google even more business

One out of four Canadians (or, more precisely, mobile and desktop user) have ad blockers installed, according to a report from Statista. Only Germany and India have more. 

Which is why it is interesting that Google intends  soon to announce a built-in ad-blocking tool for its popular Chrome web browser, according to a report from the Wall Street Journal, relayed by the Business Insider. 

"At first, that seems a bit odd. Digital advertising is Google’s bread and butter, and reports say that Google Chrome is still by far the world’s most-used browser. So why would Google want to handicap itself?  

Well, in the long run, it may not be. The report says Google’s tool wouldn’t kill every ad, but would instead filter out “unacceptable” ads as defined by the Coalition for Better Ads, an industry group of which Google (and Facebook, the other digital ad giant) are members. The Coalition currently names auto-playing videos with sound, large ads that stick to your web page even as you scroll, prestitial ads with countdowns (i.e., those ads that make you wait a few seconds before letting you see the page), and pop-ups as examples.   

"So, in a sense, this may be Google’s attempt at getting other publishers and advertisers to do better, which would lessen the need for an ad blocker, which would mean more money in Google’s pocket."

Only about 1 in 6 Canadians have ad blockers installed

Despite dire warnings about ad-blocking software's impact on advertising --publishers' main source of revenue -- a new study from IAB Canada, using comScore data, shows that only one in six Canadians (about 17%) have ad blocking installed on their desktops; and even fewer (6%) have it on their mobile devices. The highest usage of ad blockers (28%) is among millennial males.

"Interestingly, the study revealed that 13% of Canadians that had installed ad blocking software/apps at one point have actually disabled or deleted it from their system,The biggest motivators cited for uninstalling/no longer using ad blocking were the fact that the ad blockers didn’t work properly and that they interfered with site functionality."

The study found that Canadians overwhelmingly prefer free, ad-supported online content versus pay-for-content options. The preference was for less intrusive ad formats with skippable video ads and behaviorally-targeted ads getting the highest scores.

Downloadable study

How to block those blockers

The burgeoning growth of ad blocking software on the internet is threatening magazines' revenue, there's no question about it. The industry is pushing back with some strategies and tools  to combat ad blockers and improve the effectiveness of online ads. Magazines Canada is offering a webinar on March 3 at 2 p.m. featuring Ben Barokas, the Founder and CEO of Sourcepoint Technologies. The webinar is moderated by Sharon McAuley, publisher, marketer & business consultant. There's no cost to attend, but spacesare limited. Registration: http://www.magazinescanada.ca/ad-webinar-registration-page

Forbes offers readers "lite" ad experience for disabling their blockers

A  visitor to the Forbes magazine website may be surprised by the message that tells them they need to disable their ad blocker to continue accessing the site. In return, according to a story on Digiday, they are given an "ad-light experience" for 30 days, during which it is hoped they would "whitelist" the site. Forbes will still serve up ads, but they do not include autoplay video or animation. The company regards this as a test, during which they'll see how readers react and behave. 

“It’s about doing something based on what our users are looking for versus not doing anything,” said Mark Howard, chief revenue officer at Forbes Media.

(Other publishers such as The Atlantic are making polite requests that ad blockers be turned off. Most publishers and advertisers are puzzling over how to retain readers without losing ad revenue and how to respond to ad blocking software without coming out on the wrong end of the argument.)

The Forbes approach is interesting in offering a different experience for users of ad blockers, but it also creates something of a moral hazard of rewarding people who install ad blockers with a better user experience. 

“They’ve already chosen to install the ad blockers,” said Howard. “They’ve already chosen that Web experience. For us, is there an experience we can offer that they’ll whitelist us? It’s not all or nothing.”

Spread and popularity of ad blockers is a growing threat for publishers, study finds

A major new study by Reuters (summarized by a story in the Columbia Journalism Review), on the state of digital news says that the growing use of ad blockers threatens not only legacy publications (in other words, print) but also the disruptors (in other words, things such as Buzzfeed and Huffington Post). Just 11% of US consumers are paying for online news and this hasn't increased since 2013.

The report says that 47% of US internet users now use ad-blocking software, which is free and easily installed. And 55% of the valued 18-24 demographic do so. And  the situation is only going to get more dire as ad blocking is coming soon to the mobile web.

“A small number of loyal readers have been persuaded to pay for brands they like,” the report says, “but it is proving hard to convert casual readers” when there is so much else available for free, even if the quality isn’t as good as the paid-for stuff. Most of those not paying in the United States said they never would or that they could be persuaded for less than $1 per month, which is a lot less than they probably pay for coffee.

Readers are also not fooled by, or impressed by, so-called "native advertising" or "sponsored content", which they find intrusive and annoying. 

"More than 40 percent of US news consumers say they “have felt disappointed or deceived after reading an article they later found had been sponsored,” the study says."

It seems that readers are making their own rules and their preferences and behaviour will not have evaded notice of the advertisers and agencies; as the story says, if advertisers know people aren’t even seeing their ads, whether on desktops or mobile devices, in apps or elsewhere, why would they continue spending billions of dollars a year to place them? It's a real poser for publishers.