1.
Ad Blocking & the L.E.A.N. Principles
Patrick Dolan

2.
2
Ad Blocking: The Problem Is Real

3.
34% of U.S. Adults Are Using Ad Blockers
3
Current users are more likely to be younger males who are “very comfortable” with
computers and have children under 18 in the household
The types of ads that are more likely to drive consumers to use ad blockers are video ads
that automatically start playing, large ads that temporarily take over a screen, and blinking
ads
Of the one-third of Americans who claim to block ads, about 1 in 4 started using ad
blockers in the past year.
More than half of Americans who claim to block ads have been doing so for 3+ years
Source: IAB Research Using Vision Critical’s Springboard America Online Panel, Representative of General US Adult 18+ Online Population, September 2014

4.
Learning Ad Blockers Exist and Virus Infections Are
Top Triggers for Turning to Ad Blocking
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Why consumers tried using ad blockers
12%
12%
14%
22%
28%
Don't like seeing
behavioral targeted
ads
A friend
recommended an
ad blocker
Got tired of low
quality ads
Got a virus from
clicking on an ad
Found out ad
blockers exist
Source: IAB Research Using Vision Critical’s Springboard America Online Panel, Representative of General US Adult 18+ Online Population, September 2014

5.
Consumers Feel Abused by Advertising
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Why consumers continue to use ad blockers
13%
27%
30%
31%
40%
40%
42%
45%
Visually
unappealing ads
Don't trust ad
technology
Too many ads on
some sites
Blocking ads gives
more privacy
Ads are distracting
Hate ads
Improving device
performance
Virus protection
Source: IAB Research Using Vision Critical’s Springboard America Online Panel, Representative of General US Adult 18+ Online Population, September 2014

6.
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Consumers are right. We are
abusing them

7.
We Lost Track of the User Experience
7
Digital advertising became an arms race. Marketers wanted more while spending less.
Publishers needed to deliver to stay competitive
Ever-heftier advertisements have slowed down the internet and become a drain on
batteries
Agencies, brands, and publishers took advantage of more ad technology leading to more
tags and more cross-domain server calls
Every member of the digital supply chain lost sight of the social and ethical responsibility
to provide a safe, usable experience for anyone and everyone wanting to consume the
content of their choice

8.
The Supply Chain Is Out of Control
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Consumer
PublisherAgencyAdvertiser DSP Exchange SSP Network
Anti-Fraud
Vendor
Anti-Fraud
Vendor
Brand Safety
Tools
Pub-Side Files
for Rich Media
Anti-Fraud
Vendor
Anti-Fraud
Vendor
Brand Safety
Tools
Brand Safety
Tools
Viewability
Vendor
Viewability
Vendor
Viewability
Vendor
Viewability
Vendor
Viewability
Vendor
More vendors = more data calls
More data calls = longer load times + increased security vulnerability
The consumer is getting pummeled

9.
Every Tag Ads Up: More Latency, More Security Holes
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Tag Seen Seen on Secure Avg Latency (ms) Unsecure %
A 471,381,657 130,213,166 239.47 0.16%
B 408,014,536 19,302,117 955.41 75.47%
C 379,553,494 84,086,246 382.15 0.49%
D 325,728,289 31,057,684 293.20 0.11%
E 166,506,539 31,080,814 261.07 1.58%
F 163,077,283 11,170,650 582.06 56.79%
This is just a small sampling of the hundreds of tags served during an average user session

10.
In Mobile the User Experience Is of Even Higher
Importance
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Expert opinion on the question: Why do users implement mobile ad blockers?
• There is a higher sensitivity on the side of the consumer since the mobile end device is a very personal device
and there is more demand to protect privacy
• Given the small screen, mobile advertising is even more disruptive
• Limited battery life, longer charging times, and limited wireless data play more a role for mobile end devices
Source: B2B ad blocker study of the OVK

11.
Mobile Ads Cost Consumers Data & Money
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0 5 10 15 20 25
New York Post
Examiner.com
Chicago Tribune
The Independent
The Daily Beast
The Blaze
Boston.com
Data Usage to Load Mobile Homepage
megabytes to load ad content megabytes to load editorial
$0.00 $0.05 $0.10 $0.15 $0.20 $0.25 $0.30 $0.35 $0.40 $0.45
New York Post
Examiner.com
Chicago Tribune
The Independent
The Daily Beast
The Blaze
Boston.com
Data Cost to Load Mobile Homepage
cost to load ad content cost to load editorial
Source: New York Times “The Cost of Mobile Ads on 50 News Websites” October 1, 2015

12.
Mobile Page Load Times Are Dominated by Ad Content
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0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45
New York Post
Examiner.com
Chicago Tribune
The Independent
The Daily Beast
The Blaze
Boston.com
Seconds to Load Mobile Homepage
seconds to load ad content seconds to load editorial
Source: New York Times “The Cost of Mobile Ads on 50 News Websites” October 1, 2015

13.
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The consumer is demanding
action. We must respond

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The Next Phase of Advertising Technical Standards for
the Global Digital Advertising Supply Chain
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L.E.A.N. principles will guide an
alternative set of standards that provide
choice for marketers, content providers,
and consumers
• L: Light. Limited file size with strict data call guidelines.
• E: Encrypted. Assure user security with https/SSL
compliant ads
• A: Ad Choices Support. All ads should support DAA’s
consumer privacy programs
• N: Non-invasive/Non-disruptive. Ads that supplement
the user experience and don’t disrupt it. This includes
covering content and sound enabled by default

15.
The L.E.A.N. Work Streams
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L.E.A.N. Scoring
• How do we get the L.E.A.N. principles into a program with defensible criteria that creative, campaigns, and publishers can be
judged upon?
Detect Notify Choice Constrain (DNCC)
• Detection script to consistently and reliably determine whether ad blocking is happening during a page load
• Post detection best practices to recommend options to publishers once ad blocking is detected. It may include non-advertising
options for businesses, such as paywalls, limiting available content, requiring accounts, etc.
Ad Products
• Guidance on lighter ad standards for advertising sales and ad operations, aligning with HTML5 and other IAB Ad Unit Guidelines
• Minimizing the amount of data calls required to achieve good user experience and targeting, reducing latency and making sure
consumers are served the ads that were intended for them
Research
• Consumer attitudes and usage, the internet value proposition, utility of advertising to consumers
Education
• Consumer PSA campaign, legislative and regulatory lobbying, legal efforts, international coordination

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Key Takeaways
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• The rise of ad blockers is a canary in the coal mine – user experience must
improve
• Industry is deploying multi-pronged approach to addressing the issue
• L.E.A.N. Principles (Light, Encrypted, Ad Choice Enabled, Non-Invasive) to be
enabled to address consumers concerns
• Engage your customers in a conversation around compensation for your content
– share with IAB
• Join the IAB Tech Lab to help develop L.E.A.N.

17.
Thank You
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Patrick Dolan
Patrick@iab.com