Three Reasons Why Ad Blocking Will Benefit Everyone

For the moment it appears as though the great ad blocking debate has quieted down.

It was a fascinating discussion to watch from the sidelines as two camps volleyed one argument over to the other; those who were utterly terrified of impending doom, against those who believed that this was the revolution consumers sorely needed.

If we avoid taking sides for a moment, it becomes clear that this is a transformation that will benefit everybody: the media and technology that have become gatekeepers to the audience; the marketers clamouring for attention; and the audience who simply wants to enjoy their browsing experience.

Here are three reasons why:

1. Technology is enabling a more efficient customer experience.

Marketers love to talk about the customer experience. But if the clunky content, piece of advertising, or online-to-offline experience depletes battery, hard drive space, and precious wireless data, customers will happily digest marketing information from someone like Facebook who can serve it up faster and lighter.

Technology today has a better understanding of what consumers really care about than television, radio, or print ever could. Smartphones and other mobile tech will continually dominate the way consumers interact with media, and that means technology performance will be the most important thing to customers everywhere.

Tech companies may hold the audience in app ecosystems, but marketers have a lucrative opportunity in turning ecommerce functionality, gaming experiences, and other transactional behaviors into a smoother and more enjoyable encounter. People are more likely to block an ad or content experience that wastes precious time, so there’s a natural synergy here between those who create the tech and those create the marketing to speed things up.

2. Brands can give algorithms & hyper targeting a human touch.

Let’s look at social media for a moment. Companies like Facebook focused all their efforts on doing the one thing marketers beg to achieve: to constantly hold the audience’s attention while getting them to interact. This meant innovating the way ads are displayed, shared, and engaged with by users. Unfortunately, marketers lost out on this one. The ad industry chose to ramp up advertising display volumes rather than seriously pay attention to how users digest information online. The industry forfeited any meaningful innovation and ownership in this space to the tech companies who were laser focused on building an audience.

There’s still room to innovate here because much of the online world relies solely on hyper targeted algorithms that don’t necessarily result in relevant advertising. Marketers have an opportunity to dive into targeting data and focus on displaying content or advertising that meets the needs of customer behaviors. The companies that own the algorithms can continue to improve software that places an emphasis on quality display formats over quantity.

3. It’s another step forward toward a much better online experience.

Digital marketing has deep roots in fraudulent activities and trumped up metrics. A lot of the behavior we hear about today--sketchy metrics, fake volumes and advertising display, agencies that are impressions hungry--have been around since companies started using digital marketing tactics in earnest in the mid-to-late 90s. Ad blocking will change those dirty habits.

Technology companies have long sought to keep users locked into their hardware and software. Small things like battery performance and strong Wi-Fi signals are important priorities for customers when purchasing devices. If ads are the bottleneck to that purchasing decision, then it seems fair for tech companies to encourage ad blocking.

As James Williams wrote so eloquently in a post titled Why It’s OK To Block Ads:

If enough of us used ad blockers...the ultimate benefit to our lives would not just be “better ads.” It would be better products: better informational environments that are fundamentally designed to be on our side, to respect our increasingly scarce attention, and to help us navigate under the stars of our own goals and values. Isn’t that what technology is for?

Pundits in business and marketing love to talk about how empowered the customer has become in the digital era. The adoption of ad blockers are a very real example of that transformation taking place.

How is your company transforming marketing tech? Get in touch with me on Twitter here: @kaviguppta.