Pop goes the filter bubble
Helen Rose, head of insight at the7stars, discusses the findings of new research uncovering what the new world of filter bubbles means for brand discovery
One of the big claims of the digital world was the ability to filter through the choice overload and find information relevant to our needs and preferences. It promised to broaden our horizons by mass-producing moments of “pleasant surprise”.
This promise is not being met.
The filtering, and the definition of relevance behind it, has become too restrictive; trapping people inside bubbles rather than widening their choices. Outside of the bubble is largely meaningless choice; the random, irrelevant and feared. The middle ground – serendipity – is what is missing.
Our recent research with 1,000 Brits in partnership with Newsworks, has uncovered what the new world of filter bubbles means for brand discovery. The results show consumers do have an appreciation of how much their online experience is targeted and tracked: 7 in 10 are aware that advertisers pay to appear within Google search results, and 47% believe they know what a web cookie is and does.
However this is contradicted by a majority who do not understand the algorithmic personalisation at play – 2 out of 3 are not aware their Google searches are personalised and 6 out of 10 do not realise adverts on Facebook are matched to personal profiles.
The media industry is guilty of operating within a bubble of its own to some degree – the general population are not familiar with the term ‘filter bubble’ with less than 1 in 5 recognising the term.
So while the concept of the filter bubble may not have widespread recognition among consumers, the lack of knowledge about algorithmic control becomes a potentially even bigger issue for brands trying to reach them.
The challenge for brands
There is a scale of expectation when it comes to content and ad exposure. While targeted content is valued for providing relevant and convenient information, it lacks the surprise and delight we know they crave. At worst consumers feel bombarded by random information that isn’t relevant (59% agree), presented with meaningless choice that has no relevance.
Despite the amount of online targeting, consumers feel that almost 2/3 of the ads they see are random or not relevant. People are most likely to feel ‘annoyed’, ‘irritated’ and ‘invaded’ as a result.
These negative associations engender a lack of trust with online brand discovery, with 57% of consumers agreeing they’re scared to click on a brand ad in case they’re then followed around by it.
The question brands need to address is how to define relevance in their targeting strategies. Consumers are most likely to agree that they associate relevance with their personal interests and hobbies rather than being related to previous browsing and shopping behaviours or their demographics.
With 63% of consumers craving more serendipitous brand moments online, there is clearly an opportunity to go beyond the comfort of targeting and burst the bubble of algorithm ignorance.
The industry’s responsibility
Consumer-centric planning is key to addressing the challenges brands are facing. At the7stars we believe there are four online planning behaviours that should be adopted industry-wide:
1. Show a Little Respect
Finding the right proportion of targeted versus serendipitous content is essential to redress the balance consumers’ desire. While targeted content plays a welcome role for building brand familiarity and favourability, consumers are savvy about the negative side effects of too much of a good thing: 7 out of 10 consumers agree they start to ignore online ads they’ve seen too many times, and half would like to turn off ads when they become annoying.
2. Re-defining the Role for Online Advertising
Putting the consumer experience first would mean brands are more likely to consider what consumers want, rather than what will be best for their ROI metrics. Too much focus on last click attribution means the opportunity for the online environment is much broader than advertisers sometimes give it credit for.
3. Re-evaluate Relevance
Aligning with personal passions and contextually appropriate content points to a truer definer of relevance for the majority of consumers today. Relevance is a multi-dimensional word current programmatic algorithms do not fully appreciate. While previous browser history was felt to have some impact on relevance, it was not rated as a #1 definer by any consumer groups. Equally, age was felt to be a driver of relevance only amongst the youngest and oldest groups (under 24yrs or over 65yrs) where life-stage plays a role.
4. Keep the Consumer Curious
Frequency capping and rules for best practice could easily improve the experience for consumers to have more faith in their online actions. The overriding emotion when they see serendipitous content and advertising is curiosity – an emotion that makes people want to act. Yet, the feelings of being stalked online are currently stifling it.
Consumer-centric planning will only work if we all commit to making the online environment a more enjoyable place for brands to be discovered, shared and bought.