Whilst 2016 was a year of growth for digital advertising, it was also a year of big changes and challenges.
The number one challenge… Ad Blocking. Adoption of ad blockers, totalled $32.7 billion, up 19.1% from 2015. The momentum of downloads had been so fast that it was predicted the current run rate could cost the industry between $16 billion and $35 billion by 2020.
In 2016 Vibrant actively supported the IAB’s LEAN ad initiative which called for lighter, Encrypted, Ad choice supported, Non-invasive ads. These principles were devised as best practice technical standards to help guide the next phases of advertising and prevent users from blocking ads. We invested in a new tech platform which reduced our ad weight significantly. We are now proud to be one of the lightest and fasting ads on the publisher page.
In 2017 we enter the next phase of preventing ad blocking. We are working on new formats that provide better user experiences. We want people to have fun with advertising and use the latest technologies to really interact with the things they love. Why just show a picture of a product, maybe we let the person ‘virtually’ try it on. It’s all to help make advertising better for all.
This year we will be supporting the Association of Publishers (AOP) as they embark on their ad blocking initiative. Following in the footsteps of the IAB, they will be bringing together the UK’s leading publishers to help create a collective and fully informed plan on tackling ad blocking. We kick off the first event on the 16th February in central London.
We will keep you posted on the workshop outcome and next stages.
Maybe 2017 is that year..
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