Here’s a different view on one of adland’s biggest headaches: Cadbury owner Mondelez has revealed it doesn’t actually mind a bit of ad blocking.
“I know that’s not a popular view,” said Matt Stockbridge, the company’s analytics manager (pictured), “but we probably welcome it a bit.”
Stockbridge was speaking at Newsworks’ Shift 2016 conference and gave a candid client perspective on a problem costing publishers £15 billion a year.
“If the content we’re creating rises up to the surface and all the horrible stuff stays lower down, then we have a bigger share of voice,” Stockbridge said.
“We’ll only start worrying about ad blocking when we can’t watch TV, look at posters, read newspapers or listen to the radio.”
His advice in the interim?
“Don’t worry about it.”
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Of course, there was a hint a humour in his words, but not everyone is so upbeat.
Worried more about how ad blocking will damage publishers, Maxus UK MD, Anna Hickey, who shared a stage with Stockbridge, said that if the issue is not tackled, within five years we’ll witness the death of journalism.
“The truth is, ad blocking is just a bunch of profiteers demanding publishers pay a fee to be white-listed. It’s not acceptable,” she said.
The latest wave of the Internet Advertising Bureau UK’s Ad Blocking Report, published today, reveals that 22% of British adults online are currently using ad blocking software – a rise from 18% in October.
The highest level of ad blocking occurs amongst 18-24 year olds (47%), while 45-54 year olds are the least likely to block ads (16%), along with women (14%).
“The IAB believes that an ad funded internet is essential for providing revenue to publishers so they can continue to make their content, services and applications widely available at little, or no cost,” said IAB UK’s CEO, Guy Phillipson in a statement accompanying the new figures.
“We believe ad blocking undermines this approach and could mean consumers have to pay for content they currently get for free.”
For the IAB, part of the solution lies in making consumers more aware of the consequences.
“If they realise it means they can’t access content or that to do so requires paying for it, then they might stop using ad blockers,” Phillipson said. “It requires reinforcing this ‘trade-off’ message – ads help to fund the content they enjoy for free.”
During the Shift 2016 debate, the idea of micro-payments or requests to fill in marketing surveys before content was made available were also mooted as a possible “value exchange”.
