Users Choice Ad Formats Take on New Urgency as Ad-blockers Step Up
Ad blockers, most commonly offered by browsers as add-ons, have always been a development on which marketers have kept a wary eye. Such technologies show no sign of abating and, at least based on the newest development by OverApps, are morphing into new directions.
This long-standing trend, though, is being countered by the growth of 'user choice' ads - that is, online ad technology that gives viewers a choice about which ad to watch or when they prefer to watch it. Hopefully, so the theory goes, if the viewers don’t find online ads so obnoxious they won’t go through the trouble of installing an ad blocker.
The Latest from OverApps
OverApps just launched a beta ad blocker browser add-on that allows consumers to not only block online advertising, but also replace it with apps of their choice. Users can choose from such apps as Facebook and Twitter feeds, games, news, weather reports, stock updates, clocks, photo slideshows, streaming web videos and utilities. Users’ Choice Facebook is the latest, and perhaps largest, online site to try out a users’ choice format.
Facebook has confirmed to Inside Facebook it is testing a feedback option that gives users more options in to block specific advertisers from reaching them. It enhances existing strategies used by Facebook, Inside Facebook noted, namely the way it lets users provide feedback ads, providing them with such choices as “uninteresting”, “misleading”, “sexually explicit”, or “repetitive”.
Other Examples
Other providers are offering similar features. Earlier this year RadiumOne rolled out its own version of a "like" button aimed specifically at display advertising. Called the "R1 Like Button," it lets consumers like or share ads through Facebook, Twitter, email or other social media channels.
AdKeeper offers an online ad service that lets users save ads they come across - or are shown - online into a personal 'keeper' in order to view later. Then they can sort through, share, even rank and review - and of course, buy from - at their leisure.
Ad Selector is an online vide ad placement tool that allows users to select an advertisers' video spot to view prior to content [video].
A Carrot Not a Stick
Marketers don’t, or shouldn’t, need the threat of ad blockers to move in this direction, however. Data supports this approach, not to mention common sense. Consumers are likely to watch and remember a video ad that they actually choose - as opposed to one that was forced on to them. According to a study, by PreferenceCentral, Internet users are more likely to prefer targeted online ads when they are asked to make real-world, value-for-value trade-offs, such as free access to Internet content.
Ad blockers, most commonly offered by browsers as add-ons, have always been a development on which marketers have kept a wary eye. Such technologies show no sign of abating and, at least based on the newest development by OverApps, are morphing into new directions.
This long-standing trend, though, is being countered by the growth of 'user choice' ads - that is, online ad technology that gives viewers a choice about which ad to watch or when they prefer to watch it. Hopefully, so the theory goes, if the viewers don’t find online ads so obnoxious they won’t go through the trouble of installing an ad blocker.
The Latest from OverApps
OverApps just launched a beta ad blocker browser add-on that allows consumers to not only block online advertising, but also replace it with apps of their choice. Users can choose from such apps as Facebook and Twitter feeds, games, news, weather reports, stock updates, clocks, photo slideshows, streaming web videos and utilities. Users’ Choice Facebook is the latest, and perhaps largest, online site to try out a users’ choice format.
Facebook has confirmed to Inside Facebook it is testing a feedback option that gives users more options in to block specific advertisers from reaching them. It enhances existing strategies used by Facebook, Inside Facebook noted, namely the way it lets users provide feedback ads, providing them with such choices as “uninteresting”, “misleading”, “sexually explicit”, or “repetitive”.
Other Examples
Other providers are offering similar features. Earlier this year RadiumOne rolled out its own version of a "like" button aimed specifically at display advertising. Called the "R1 Like Button," it lets consumers like or share ads through Facebook, Twitter, email or other social media channels.
AdKeeper offers an online ad service that lets users save ads they come across - or are shown - online into a personal 'keeper' in order to view later. Then they can sort through, share, even rank and review - and of course, buy from - at their leisure.
Ad Selector is an online vide ad placement tool that allows users to select an advertisers' video spot to view prior to content [video].
A Carrot Not a Stick
Marketers don’t, or shouldn’t, need the threat of ad blockers to move in this direction, however. Data supports this approach, not to mention common sense. Consumers are likely to watch and remember a video ad that they actually choose - as opposed to one that was forced on to them. According to a study, by PreferenceCentral, Internet users are more likely to prefer targeted online ads when they are asked to make real-world, value-for-value trade-offs, such as free access to Internet content.
Connecting the Dots With Google's Zagat Acquisition
Google has made acquisitions before, including one deal this month, but its latest deal, the acquisition of Zagat, is a first in one way: it signifies a push into the original content space.
Zagat will be a cornerstone for Google's local offering, the company says. It is a significant acquisition for both Google and for local marketers, a group that Google has been courting with various offerings. The content that Zagat brings to the table arguably closes the gap between Google Places and Yelp, writes Search Engine Land.
SMBs Driving Growth
Advertisers most likely to be affected - or rather, interested - by this addition to Google’s array of content are small and medium sized companies. As it happens this group is projected to significantly step up their digital ad spend over the next five years, according to new projections by BIA/Kelsey.
By 2015 SMBs will allocate 30% of their marketing budgets to traditional advertising (down from 52% in 2010), with the remaining 70% going to digital/online media (mobile, social, online directories, online display, digital outdoor), performance-based commerce (pay-per-click, deals, couponing) and customer retention business solutions (email, reputation and presence management, websites, social marketing, calendaring/appointment-setting).
BIA/Kelsey attributes much of this shift to the advent of daily deals. "SMBs are now increasingly focused on leveraging technological solutions to engage, grow and retain a higher percentage of their customers," said Neal Polachek, president, BIA/Kelsey. As it happens, it was this area in which Google made its other acquisition this month.
Long Form Videos Meet Online Ads
When Hulu first launch there was much question whether viewers would tolerate video ads with video content. That question has been answered - and now new statistics show that people are becoming even more accepting of online ads in video. Indeed, at least one observer theorizes that there is plenty of room run left in the online ads that can be served with video content.
The stats come video ad manager FreeWheel, which reported, among other findings that long-form content carried an average of nearly 3 ads per view, with an 81% ad completion rate. These numbers show that people are becoming more accepting of ads - just as they did with television.
Will Richmond at Video Nuze takes these observations and statistics one step further and states there is still a huge opportunity in the ad load gap between online delivery and TV. Also, he adds, "online video completion rates could become the basis to offset DVR-driven ad-skipping."
Regarding the former: "three ads of mostly 30 seconds each aggregating to 90 seconds in a long-form online view is far less than the 8 minutes of ad time typically seen on TV per half-hour program. That monetization gap suggests a potentially big opportunity to increase the volume of ads delivered." As for DVR users, they clearly love the ad-skipping capability. "One of the little-touted benefits of online delivery is that in-stream ads can't be avoided…With the FreeWheel data suggesting ad acceptance is currently very high, there is an inherent opportunity to highlight improved viewership metrics to advertisers mitigating concerns that many TV ads are not just tuned out, but actually skipped altogether."
Where is the Long-form Content?
All of this, though, ignores the fact that there is not much quality long-form video content available - although that is rapidly changing. At the beginning of August, Hulu launched its first long-form original program, a documentary series called "A Day in the Life." Much, though, depends on the definition of long-form. Using FreeWheel’s measure - two minutes or more - the range of examples expand significantly. Yahoo en Espanol has launched an original sports feature called "La Locura” consisting of three-minute segments featuring funny moments from sports.
Zagat will be a cornerstone for Google's local offering, the company says. It is a significant acquisition for both Google and for local marketers, a group that Google has been courting with various offerings. The content that Zagat brings to the table arguably closes the gap between Google Places and Yelp, writes Search Engine Land.
SMBs Driving Growth
Advertisers most likely to be affected - or rather, interested - by this addition to Google’s array of content are small and medium sized companies. As it happens this group is projected to significantly step up their digital ad spend over the next five years, according to new projections by BIA/Kelsey.
By 2015 SMBs will allocate 30% of their marketing budgets to traditional advertising (down from 52% in 2010), with the remaining 70% going to digital/online media (mobile, social, online directories, online display, digital outdoor), performance-based commerce (pay-per-click, deals, couponing) and customer retention business solutions (email, reputation and presence management, websites, social marketing, calendaring/appointment-setting).
BIA/Kelsey attributes much of this shift to the advent of daily deals. "SMBs are now increasingly focused on leveraging technological solutions to engage, grow and retain a higher percentage of their customers," said Neal Polachek, president, BIA/Kelsey. As it happens, it was this area in which Google made its other acquisition this month.
Long Form Videos Meet Online Ads
When Hulu first launch there was much question whether viewers would tolerate video ads with video content. That question has been answered - and now new statistics show that people are becoming even more accepting of online ads in video. Indeed, at least one observer theorizes that there is plenty of room run left in the online ads that can be served with video content.
The stats come video ad manager FreeWheel, which reported, among other findings that long-form content carried an average of nearly 3 ads per view, with an 81% ad completion rate. These numbers show that people are becoming more accepting of ads - just as they did with television.
Will Richmond at Video Nuze takes these observations and statistics one step further and states there is still a huge opportunity in the ad load gap between online delivery and TV. Also, he adds, "online video completion rates could become the basis to offset DVR-driven ad-skipping."
Regarding the former: "three ads of mostly 30 seconds each aggregating to 90 seconds in a long-form online view is far less than the 8 minutes of ad time typically seen on TV per half-hour program. That monetization gap suggests a potentially big opportunity to increase the volume of ads delivered." As for DVR users, they clearly love the ad-skipping capability. "One of the little-touted benefits of online delivery is that in-stream ads can't be avoided…With the FreeWheel data suggesting ad acceptance is currently very high, there is an inherent opportunity to highlight improved viewership metrics to advertisers mitigating concerns that many TV ads are not just tuned out, but actually skipped altogether."
Where is the Long-form Content?
All of this, though, ignores the fact that there is not much quality long-form video content available - although that is rapidly changing. At the beginning of August, Hulu launched its first long-form original program, a documentary series called "A Day in the Life." Much, though, depends on the definition of long-form. Using FreeWheel’s measure - two minutes or more - the range of examples expand significantly. Yahoo en Espanol has launched an original sports feature called "La Locura” consisting of three-minute segments featuring funny moments from sports.
