Marketing in the Age of Ad Blocking

Advertisers- specifically agencies- today must evolve in order to stay relevant with changing consumer behavior and technology. The Wall Street Journal (Baker 2016) documents several existing challenges in the world of marketing today: the prevalence of fake web traffic, lack of trust between clients and agencies as agencies receive kickbacks from media buys and even the use of emojis in ad messaging. While many ethical issues loom in the marketing world, the logistical challenge that has raised significant awareness in the industry is still the rise of ad-blocking and commercial free video. This is not a new trend but still a relevant issue that will be addressed at a major convention for advertisers in 2016. How do marketers get their message through in the age of consumer ad skipping opportunity?

Kotler & Keller (2016) note that three forces- technology, globalization and social responsibility- continue to dramatically change the marketplace (p.38). Consumers have become less tolerant to undesired marketing (or even have a strong dislike to it) opting to skip commercials and avoid phone/mail marketing collateral (p.39). Companies can evolve, cope and respond with new capabilities.

Marketers are getting creative with content delivery, using more research to target consumers with messages they want or simply fighting back. Such was the case for Charles Arruda, a vice president of live event streaming website Channelseek, who wrote software code on his company website that prevents anyone using ad blocker software from accessing the site at all – claiming ad blocking is thievery (Flynn 1998). In December 2015, Forbes used the same tactic, but altered the consumer experience by offering “ad light” version (Marshall 2016). The report notes that 40 percent of users turned off their ad blocker to access the site. Wall Street Journal users who have ad blocking software installed on their devices are served a message reminding them that advertising supports high quality journalism (Marshall 2016).

Native advertising seems to be the solution for now, but it is not immune to ad blocker. Technology development is underway by companies looking to protect this respectful form of sponsored content delivery (Shields 2015). In the meantime, the conversation continues with major players in the advertising and marketing space. Does this make you reconsider more traditional methods like out of home and print?

Want to research more into this subject matter? View the sources here. 

Tiffany Russell, APR is a corporate marketing communications executive serving both the destination marketing industry and local government services. LEARN MORE

Resources

Flynn, L. J. (1999, Jun 08). Ad-blocking software a challenge to web industry. National Post Retrieved from http://ezproxy.nu.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/329444034?accountid=25320

Marshall, J. (2016, May 13). Forbes tests new tactics to combat ad blocking; the publisher is asking ad-blocking users to provide personal information to access its site. Wall Street Journal (Online) Retrieved from http://ezproxy.nu.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/1788513541?accountid=25320

Shields, M. (2015, Oct 05). Publishers worry that native ads are vulnerable to ad blocking; experts say native ads can be just as susceptible to ad blocking as banners. Wall Street Journal (Online) Retrieved from http://ezproxy.nu.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/1718878716?accountid=25320

The ad revolution (A special report) — elusive viewers, new media and an evolving industry: Gerard baker, the journal’s editor in chief, introduces our special report on the state of advertising. (2016, Jun 22). Wall Street Journal Retrieved from http://ezproxy.nu.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/1798559949?accountid=25320