Adweek – The 10 Most Interesting Stats Revealed at Mobile World Congress 2016: Adblocking, VR..
What happens when you put executives from three tech companies that rely on advertising, one brand marketer and an ad blocker on a panel? A heated discussion. Nick Hugh, Yahoo’s VP and GM of advertising in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, called out mobile ad blocker Shine, saying its technology “destroys” the ad ecosystem.
But was Hugh’s comment exaggerated? Before the panel began, M&C Saatchi’s CEO James Hilton said only 0.3 percent of mobile owners use ad blockers, suggesting the issue might be smaller than some believe.
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The Wall Street Journal – Battle Heats Up Over Mobile Ad Blocking
James Hilton, chief executive of advertising firm M&C Saatchi Performance, said advertisers should be careful to not annoy consumers with advertising. But one of the reasons carriers are interested in ad blockers is because “they are struggling to provide bandwidth” as mobile data use climbs.
The use of wireless ad blockers has risen dramatically in the U.K. over the past 12 months, Mr. Hilton said, but it is still only a small number of device owners in total.
Full article here (paywall)
Adage – Ad Blocker, Ad Sellers Clash at Mobile World Congress
Talk about mobile ad blocking hit a fever pitch last year in the leadup to the roll out of Apple’s iOS 9, which enabled content blockers including ad blockers. James Hilton, global CEO and founder at M&C Saatchi Performance, acknowledged that mobile ad blocking has become more popular but said it still hasn’t reached broad penetration. By the end of 2016, he estimated, only 0.3% of all mobile device owners will use an ad blocker.
“It’s catching on but we got to it early,” Mr. Hilton said.
Now that the industry is acutely aware of how frustrating many mobile ad formats are for consumers, and willing to admit it, one issue is how to go about fixing advertising so people won’t feel compelled to download ad blockers. Another is that there are already multiple ad blockers available on mobile, so the clock is ticking. While the industry figures out the best way forward, consumer ad blocking likely will continue to grow.
Consumers also aren’t the only ones moved to block ads. Shine, an ad blocker that can work across entire cellphone networks, last fall announced a deal with Caribbean carrier Digicel in which it would block all ads for the network’s roughly 14 million subscribers. Carriers are struggling to deal with the bandwidth that ads use up thanks to the associated video, trackers and code. It’s the operators that are paying the price, along with consumers who can incur data charges from the ads, said Mr. Hilton.
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