The IAB Calls Ad Blocking 'Highway Robbery' and Ramps Up Its Call to Arms

Scott Cunningham, svp at the Interactive Advertising Bureau and general manager of the IAB Tech Lab, told Adweek after a press conference today that he's been privy to ad-blocking data from major publishers that have recently begun using software that detects ad blocking. Pressed to characterize what the data means for advertisers, he declined further comment, but it's hard to imagine such stats contain good news for people who depend on digital-media paychecks.  "We don't want to see this type of highway robbery," Cunningham said earlier, during the morning junket, which was part of an ad-blocking session at the annual IAB Mixx Conference. "We'd like [ad blockers] to play fair." The ad-blocking topic picked up steam earlier this month with the release of Apple's IOS9, the mobile operating system that lets developers for the first time create ad blockers for the uber-popular iPhone. Publishers are pushing back with software to detect ad blockers and sometimes work around them.  "There's a war between engineers," said Cunningham (pictured). The IAB has ramped up its advocacy at a time when ad blocking is growing among consumers. It's advising the publishing community to educate viewers about how ad blocking could hurt their online experience by blocking out useful content. The Washington Post and Hulu are two media companies already putting that idea into practice. As another example, the IAB has devised Web code that is designed to help small publishers detect... Continue reading at 'AdWeek'

[ AdWeek | 2015-09-30 00:00:00 UTC ]

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