The IAB Pivots on Ad Blocking and Issues a Mea Culpa: 'We Messed Up'

The Interactive Advertising Bureau today said the digital publishing industry has cared too much about revenues and too little about user experience and needs therefore to accept blame for the rising popularity of ad blockers. So it's launching an effort called L.E.A.N. Ads, with the acronym standing for Light, Encrypted, Ad choice supported, Non-invasive. "We messed up," said Scott Cunningham, senior vp of technology and ad operations at the IAB. "Looking back now, our scraping of dimes may have cost us dollars in consumer loyalty." Cunningham's words were part of the IAB's lengthy, mea culpa-style online statement issued about the growing phenomenon that is ad blocking. It represented quite a turn of events: After all, Cunningham just two weeks ago called ad blocking "highway robbery." The exec also addressed the historical evolution of how the digital publishing industry failed—specifically in the mobile era when smartphone users get their batteries drained by never-ending ads—to remember that the consumer experience was integral to continued sales growth. "Through our pursuit of further automation and maximization of margins during the industrial age of media technology, we built advertising technology to optimize publishers' yield of marketing budgets that had eroded after the last recession," he wrote. "The fast, scalable systems of targeting users with ever-heftier advertisements have slowed down the public Internet and drained more than a few batteries. We... Continue reading at 'AdWeek'

[ AdWeek | 2015-10-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
News tagged with: #content providers

Other Publishing stories related to: 'The IAB Pivots on Ad Blocking and Issues a Mea Culpa: 'We Messed Up''


AOL Scoops Up Mobile Ad Network Millennial Media for $238 Million

After two months of speculation, AOL has acquired mobile ad network Millennial Media for $238 million, or about $1.75 per share. The Millennial deal is the newest step in building out AOL's tools to compete in mobile advertising against behemoths like Facebook, Yahoo and Google. With the deal,... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2015-09-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #latest sign #$300 million #tech companies #stay ahead #past couple


On ad pricing, Condé Nast bows to the reality of digital

Like all traditional publishers, Condé Nast has had to adapt its brands as readers and advertisers shift their habits and spending to digital platforms. The changes haven’t gone unnoticed by ad buyers. They applauded Condé Nast’s greater flexibility, manifest in its native ad platform 23 Stories... Continue reading at Digiday

[ Digiday | 2015-08-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #digital platforms #digital appeared #traditional publishers #ad buyers #greater flexibility #ad products


Life After Content Blocking

Ad blocking started as an initiative by independent developers who wanted to improve our browsing experience. Now that at least one company, Apple, has made Content Blocking “official”, ad-supported publishing business models are ... Continue reading at Editor & Publisher

[ Editor & Publisher | 2015-08-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #independent developers #browsing experience


BuzzFeed partners with GroupM, world's largest buyer of online ads

BuzzFeed, the fast-growing media site, and GroupM, the world's largest buyer of online advertising, announced a partnership Thursday that underscores the rising lure of digital publishing to leading brands. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2015-08-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #largest buyer #online ads #online advertising #digital publishing


Mobile Readers Abound; the Ads, Not So Much

Traditional and online publishers are struggling to cash in on their surging mobile traffic, raising questions about their future growth as consumers increasingly turn to smartphones and tablets for media. Continue reading at Editor & Publisher

[ Editor & Publisher | 2015-08-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #online publishers #future growth


Twitter Gives Promoted Tweets and Video Ads More Mobile Reach

In November 2014, then Twitter CEO Dick Costolo touted the idea that around 500 million people consume the microblogging platform's tweets even though they don't have an account on it. During an earnings call at the time, Costolo was trying to explain why the company's persistent user-growth... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2015-08-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #industry average #ad sales #senior director #told adweek


4 Major Publishers Can Now Put Ads in Their Online Comment Sections

It was only a matter of time before marketers started squeezing native ads into every nook of a publisher's site, and now Condé Nast, The Wall Street Journal, CNN and Fox News can sell promos that pop up in story comments. Today, Livefyre—a tech company that powers online discussions—is... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2015-08-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #sold directly #risky move #targeted based #editorial content


Facebook offers up its autoplay video ads to other apps

If you're already annoyed with the autoplay video ads in your Facebook timeline, you might want to brace yourself. The social network is opening up that advertising tech to outside apps, or more specifically, to publishers who leverage Menlo Park's... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2015-08-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #facebook offers


Johnston Press claims trading up despite slump in ad revenue

Local newspaper publisher reports operating profits down 4.3% to £27m in first half to 3 July, but digital audience grows by more than 20%Johnston Press has said it has seen an improvement in trading since issuing a warning to investors that sent its shares tumbling last month, although ad... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2015-08-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #7% year #profit warning #ad revenue


Digital Nears a Third of New York Times Ad Revenue

The New York Times Co. posted second-quarter profit that topped analysts' estimates after the publisher cut expenses faster than revenue declined.Earnings excluding some items were 13 cents a share, the New York-based company said in a statement. That compares with the 11-cent average of... Continue reading at Advertising Age

[ Advertising Age | 2015-08-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #fell short


Ad Age's 2015 Hispanic Fact Pack Is Out Now

Marketers continue to boost spending in the U.S. Hispanic media market, with 2014 advertising outlays growing by 12.0%, far ahead of the estimated 4.9% growth for overall U.S. major-media ad spending. As usual, internet spending (up 18.3%) and TV (up 14.7%) fueled that growth. Newspapers eked... Continue reading at Advertising Age

[ Advertising Age | 2015-08-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #ad spending #includes data #demographic change #procter gamble


Deconstructing Amazon’s #haveKINDLEwillTRAVEL Ads

Roger Tagholm deconstructs the brilliance of Amazon's new Kindle advertisements, which promote the ereader as a chic, travel companion and paragon of cool. The post Deconstructing Amazon’s #haveKINDLEwillTRAVEL Ads appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2015-07-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #travel companion


New Breed of Digital Publishers Just Say No to Ad Tech

Today’s new breed of digital publishers is just not that into ad tech.     Indeed, the much hyped cadre of venture-backed, Web-born, and millennially-inclined publishers — think Vox Media, Mic and Refinery29 &nd ... Continue reading at Editor & Publisher

[ Editor & Publisher | 2015-07-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #digital publishers #ad tech #vox media


Wattpad's Native Ads Pitch in a TL;DR World? Consumers and Brands Love Long Reads

First the Serial podcast became wildly popular. Then President Barack Obama sat down for an interview with Marc Maron for the comedian's WTF program, and the audio-only format that is podcasting was validated like never before. The developments largely flew in the face of the increasingly... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2015-07-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #decade ago #longer period #short form #follow trends


New Survey Tackles Tax Issues Around Books

A survey from the Federation of European Publishers (FEP) and the International Publishers Association (IPA) has highlighted the international disparities in the taxing of books and ebooks. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-07-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Study With Major Brands Compares Ad Recall for Mobile and Desktop Promos

If you want people to remember a mobile ad, you're going to have to pay for it, according to new research from digital ad firm Undertone. Last year, Undertone worked with Ipsos ASI to look at how takeover "high-impact" desktop ads affected brand recall. This year, the company looked at how... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2015-07-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #web pages #consumer engagement #brands aren


Meredith Corp. Bought an Ad-Tech Company to Make Grocery Shopping Easier

Women's magazine publisher Meredith Corp. has acquired Grocery Server, a digital firm that powers location-based ads for food and retail brands. Grocery Server was founded in 2008 as an ad platform that pulls location data from grocery stores and CPG brands into ads on publishers' websites.... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2015-07-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #martha stewart #latest piece #fit pregnancy #american media #branded content


Why ad buyers are slow to embrace attention metrics

Premium publishers have been pushing the idea of selling ads based on attention time, saying that the longer people spend on a site, the more value there is for advertisers. But some ad buyers aren’t biting. Too few publishers are selling this way. For some advertisers, the goal isn’t to be in... Continue reading at Digiday

[ Digiday | 2015-07-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #premium publishers #ad buyers #goal isn #long time


Is YP's Search Data Strong Enough to Win More Local Digital Ad Dollars?

A few years ago, Foursquare, Yelp and Groupon seemed to be booming with brands and consumers, painting a pretty lucrative picture of the future of local advertising. Fast-forward to today—Yelp is reportedly up for sale, Foursquare's growth has stalled, and the daily-deal market has burned out. ... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2015-07-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #location-based ads #forrester research #drive sales


Facebook steps up competition with YouTube with ad-supported videos

Social network already has 4bn views a day of its native clips, but helping their creators to make money is its next ambitionVideos uploaded directly to Facebook are watched more than 4bn times a day according to the social network. Now it wants their uploaders to be able to make money from... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2015-07-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #facebook users #make money #4bn times #partner publishers