Ginny Marvin says, ““We messed up. As technologists, tasked with delivering content and services to users, we lost track of the user experience.” That’s the IAB’s admission of industry complicity in the swell of discontent about digital advertising and use of ad blockers. In reaction to this screwup and in the face of rising awareness and availability of ad blocking tools, the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) announced it is launching a new approach to ad standards. The new L.E.A.N. Ads program — an acronym for light, encrypted, ad choice supported, non-invasive ads —... [...]

Max Prin says, “Ad blockers have been around for some time now and are widely used. The question around the end of the “free internet” and the impact on sales is not a new topic, and I won’t discuss it here. But as of September 16, 2015, ad blockers entered the world of iOS devices when Apple announced they would allow third-party development of “content blocking” apps in its new operating system, iOS 9. One of them, Crystal, became in a few days one of the most downloaded paid apps from the App Store. Unfortunately for website owners, Crystal (and probably other content blockers)... [...]

Jack Simpson says, “With ad blocking being such a talking point in the digital marketing world at the moment, there has been much debate around what advertisers and publishers could do to help tackle the problem.  One thing that has almost certainly contributed to the rising popularity of ad blocking software is the fact that many publishers insist on using hideous or intrusive ads in the form of giant flashing banners or autoplay videos. I covered some examples of this in my post about ad blockers a couple of months ago, but here’s a quick reminder of the type of nightmare I’m referring... [...]

Jack Simpson says, “Since the announcement that Apple would allow ad blocking software on the latest version of its operating system, it’s hard to browse the internet without stumbling across a discussion on this topic.  The debate on how to manage the rise of ad blocking has been fierce so far. Publishers are worried their industry will fold in on itself as the primary source of income dries up, while ad blocking consumers simply want a better user experience or are ignorant (wilfully or otherwise) about the way ‘free’ content works. But this post is not about putting my opinion... [...]

Lindsay Kolowich says, “When Apple unveiled its new iPhone and iOS 9 operating system two weeks ago, it dropped a proverbial wet blanket on marketers everywhere: A new feature in the operating system called Content Blockers will now allow iOS 9 users to install ad blocking applications from the App Store. These ad blocking applications will let people easily block advertising, trackers, and other third-party scripts. The new feature isn’t a total shocker: Apple gave the go-ahead for iOS 9 app developers to build ad blocking extensions for Safari, its default browser app, back... [...]

Martin Beck says, “The Interactive Advertising Bureau opened a new front in its battle against ad-blocking companies Tuesday, announcing the creation of a working group and an online hub to help publishers deal with software that strips advertising from their sites. “We don’t want to see highway robbery becoming the norm across the Web,” said Scott Cunningham, the general manager of the IAB’s Technology Lab. “When it comes to how ad blocking effects [sic] small publishers, there is no question that ad-blocking companies are holding their sites, their livelihoods in fact, hostage.” There... [...]

Amy Gesenhues says, “Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer took center stage during Monday’s IAB MIXX conference in NYC, and told the audience that she thinks it’s a mistake for internet users to install ad blockers. Near the end of her conversation with The Slate Group chairman and editor-in-chief Jacob Weisberg, Mayer weighed in on the hottest topic in the marketing industry today. “I personally think it’s a mistake to install ad blockers,” Mayer said. She says Yahoo has ads that work and make for a better internet experience, adding to the content versus taking away from it. According to... [...]

Carly Stec says, “When display advertising first surfaced in the world of marketing, many marketers were left with a bad taste in their mouth. The ads we were being presented with lacked context and value, and as a result, many of us were quick to deem them untrustworthy. At HubSpot, we held onto this notion for a while. There was just something about paying for an irrelevant banner ad that didn’t sit well with us. But then things started to change … As technology advanced, we started looking at display advertising — digital advertising in general, really — in a new... [...]

Heather Marano says, “On a recent trip to New York, I took the opportunity to attend a digital publishing summit that brought together key digital players including The Huffington Post, The Onion, Buzzfeed and others to discuss trends in publishing. I was interested to learn more about how the media landscape is changing as a result of digital. Changing reader habits, geared towards a preference for consuming media online and through devices, have led to the decline of print and a subsequent decline in revenue for media outlets. Unsurprisingly, the number one issue up for discussion at... [...]

Greg Sterling says, “It may be premature to call ad blocking a “crisis” for the industry, but it’s obviously an area of significant concern for publishers and advertisers. The IAB (Interactive Advertising Bureau) has suggested that it may sue to try to stop ad blocking; however, the prospect of legal victory is dubious. To the surprise of many, following the release of iOS 9, the ad-blocking app Peace immediately rose to the top of the iTunes paid app charts over the weekend, only to be later pulled by its developer Marco Arment amid feelings of remorse over its potential impact on... [...]