AAX

2. Ad blocking is dead.
How to restore the value
exchange between
publishers and ad blockers.
Tim CRONIN, VP of Sales
tim@aax.media

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Ad block users

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Great news!
90% of your ad-block users have
agreed to receive ads

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Why would an ad-block user agree
to receive ads?
What is the difference between
ad blocking and ad filtering?
How does it work?
Who benefits?

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Agenda
The scale of ad blocking
How did we get here?
What are my options?
The Acceptable Ads program
What does it mean for advertising ecosystem?
What does the future hold?

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1 Billion people
block ads*
*according to GWI Q3 2017

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Scorched earth
ad blocking

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“Biggest boycott in
human history”
- Doc Searls

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How did we get here?

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Why do you block ads?
Source: eyeo Google survey (Jan ‘18)

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- Brian Morrissey in a Digiday article: “Are Third-Party Cookies Worth Saving?”,
March 15, 2013
"… the original sin of the Web is
its limitless inventory. In a world
without marginal cost to create
new ad impressions, unlike
magazines or TV, you get a
supply and demand imbalance.
Such an environment is a
nightmare for premium media,
which has always been based on
scarcity".
Supply ↔ Demand imbalance

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Supply ↔ Demand imbalance

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How does this impact me?

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"Millennials are more likely
to have an ad blocker
enabled than those in any
other demographic group"
- e-Marketer, Sept. 4, 2018

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25-44
01
spends
more
online
tech-savvy
educated
high
income

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OK, what are my options?

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Refuse entry

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…or you can serve Acceptable Ads to your
ad block users

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Position Labeling Size
Note: criteria only applies to ad block user inventory
Acceptable Ads Criteria

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Who Decides What is Acceptable?

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31
Member Organizations

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Why would an ad-block user accept ads?!

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89%
01
Of ad-blocking users
don’t want to see
invasive forms of
advertising
80%
Of ad-blocking users
acknowledged the
importance of advertising
to a free internet

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What do you think is the best way to
support websites?
I’m fine with ads but only
as long as they’re not
annoying
I’d prefer to donate a
sum directly to each
website
I’d be willing to pay for
content I enjoy
I’m fine with the current
situation: I see ads to
support websites

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What’s the potential?

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Benefits
Publisher: new revenue for publishers
Advertiser: access to quality demographics (formerly “untouchables”)
Consumer: control over the browsing experience
Ecosystem: balance between content monetization and user experience

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Summary
• Ad blocking is a result of market conditions
• Ad blocking is now ad filtering
• Ad-block users don’t hate all ads
• 90% of ad block users have already provided consent

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Recommendations
(1) Understand the impact of ad blocking on your business
(2) Participate in acceptable ads initiative
(3) Begin monetizing the 90% of ad-block users

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Thank
You!