The Movement Towards Ad Blocking

Although ad-blocking software has been around for a while, lately they’ve been getting a lot more attention from the online advertising world. Reactions from publishers and advertisers alike range from ambivalence to terror to threat of legal action. This week let’s explore this controversial topic.

Background

Online publishers, faced with decreasing ad performance and revenues, have responded by accepting increasingly intrusive ads from their customers. You’ve all seen them: pop-ups, interstitials, superstitials, and most recently, the pop-under. This trend comes on the heels of the Internet Advertising Bureau announcing standards for new larger ad sizes such as skyscrapers. Unlike the days of the plain graphic banner, consumers are finding it difficult to ignore these new forms of Web advertising, and are unhappy with their intrusive nature and sheer size. So what are users starting to do? Enter ad blocking software.

Internet ad-blocking software is not a recent development. Initially there was a lack of interest because Web surfers hadn’t yet grown jaded by Web advertising; some even considered it a necessary part of their surfing experience. With today’s growing dissatisfaction and a desire to reduce the bombardment of ad clutter, the question is will consumer demand allow these “semi-underground” softwares to become an integral component of PCs and modems.

Who Makes Ad Blocking Software

Ad blocking software is generally free for the public. It scrubs out all forms of recognizable advertising, especially that which is served from networks such as DoubleClick. When a page downloads, the ad blocking software looks for ads it recognizes by sizing or where the image is coming from (ad servers, for example), and then blocks them automatically.

Some of the largest manufacturers include AdKiller, AdSubtract, JunkBuster Proxy, and WebWasher. With downloads growing into the millions, some of these companies are finding PC and modem manufacturers receptive to the idea of distributing their software with their products.

Who’s Using It and Why

Ad blocking software is used by 1) tech-savvy surfers (the installation process is not for everyone), and 2) corporations. For the individual surfer, the benefits are enhanced privacy (software blocks ad engines tracking), increased download speed, and lack of intrusive ads. For corporations, IT managers benefit by controlling what content their employees see and decreased bandwidth usage due to lack of ads.

I’m A Publisher – What Can Be Done?

Simply put, the growing interest ad blocking software is a response to the intrusive, irrelevant advertising found on the Web today. The one solution that most everyone seems to agree on is for publishers and advertisers to run *better* advertising – advertising that is less intrusive, more targeted, and more useful to the consumer. At this point in time, most industry officials don’t view ad blocking software as a threat. However, the biggest draw of the Internet remains free content (see our previous tip “Capitalizing on Content“). No one wants to see paid content become the norm, so we all need to work to figure out how to reach consumers effectively in a non-intrusive manner.

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