Direct Marketing And The Ad Blockers
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| Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay |
However, I wanted to approach the topic soberly and objectively, which is why I chose a more neutral title. Especially since I present both sides and their arguments in the article.
In terms of content, the question is how widespread ad blockers are now and how this affects direct marketing, i.e. income from banner advertising.
Spread Of The Ad-Blockers
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| Direct Marketing And The Ad Blockers |
Ad blockers are a sensitive issue.
Both the users who use ad blockers and the website operators whose ads are blocked not only have good arguments but are also often quite emotional on this topic.
I try to be relatively relaxed and give reasons for it under.
In the beginning, I just want to take a look at how big the “problem” actually is.
There are quite different statistical data on this. That depends on several factors. On the one hand on the browser. According to an analysis on t3n.de, the proportion of users who use ad blockers is probably highest with Firefox. In contrast, the lowest is Internet Explorer and Safari.
The composition of your users already plays a role here. In addition to the browser used, the target group itself is certainly also relevant. Certain target groups are simply more familiar with plugins etc. than others.
And so at t3n.de, you get an average of 12.65% of the users who use an ad blocker.
computerbase.de once announced that there are 18.9% of the users there. With such a technology-loving target group, it is certainly not surprising.
Other experts speak of 5 to 25% or even 40%. This information already shows that it varies greatly depending on the website.
To find out what percentage of your users have installed an AdBlocker, there is unfortunately not such a simple solution. I found a script on saurdo.com which I will test.
So far I haven't gotten around to measuring the value here for my blog, but I will do so over the Easter days when I have a little more time.
Adblocker Pros And Cons
Now the question arises why users use an ad blocker at all.
However, this is often not difficult to guess. The more pages use advertisements that take up half the screen or obstruct or even completely prevent the reader from reading the content of a page (layers, interstitials), the more users will resort to protective measures such as ad blockers.
However, there are certainly some who think that information on the web must not only be free of charge but also free of advertising.
Of course, you can't forbid anyone to use an ad blocker. And there are individual websites where I do this because the advertising there is simply annoying and compels me.
The problem is, however, that many website operators live on the income from adequate advertising. However, once the advertising blocker is activated, a lot is automatically filtered.
And so banners are filtered on a page that the user has no problem with.
The result is then often lower advertising revenue, which can put one or the other professional blog at risk. Because only with pure hobby blogs does someone invest his free time. Professional bloggers invest valuable working time in their blogs and taking away the income from them can mean the end of a blog.
Overall, it has to be said that the problem is partly homemade, as too much aggressive advertising on the Internet has pissed off users. And unfortunately, some just don't know how to do the work that is in a blog or website.
Take Action Against Ad Blockers?
Now the question arises for the Website and blog operator whether he should take action against it.
I will go into the possibilities below. First of all, I would like to ask whether one should take action against it at all or whether it might not make any sense.
Because there is one thing you should be clear about, banner blindness is already there for many users.
And I can't sell a banner to anyone just because I show it again against their will.
On the other hand, as a content provider, I am of course just as free to prevent my content from being released to people who are not prepared to “endure” some advertising in return.
Some plugins allow content to be blocked if it is detected that an ad blocker is running.
I'm not a big fan of that, though. I try to choose my advertising as appropriately as possible and I also do not use any advertising formats that hinder or prevent reading the content.
That is why I rely on certain fairness on the part of the readers. And if at all, I would use such an anti-AdBlock plug-in to only send a message to the users concerned. However, at least one attractive element of the website, such as a free eBook, could be withheld from readers with an activated adblocker.
In my opinion, it's a fine line, and I don't think it's helpful in the long term to punish or lock users out. It would help everyone a lot more if these users selectively block only those websites that overdo it with advertising.
Tips
Here are a few tips on how to escape at least simple ad blockers:
- There should be no reference to a banner in the banner filename. So neither words like “banner” or “advertisement”, nor should dimension numbers such as 468 appear.
- The path in which the banner lies should not allow any conclusions to be drawn either. So no path “/ web banner /” or something similar.
- It takes a certain amount of effort, but by changing the path and the image URL every month, for example, you can bypass the blocker. Using a banner plugin reduces the number of changes that you have to make for it.
- The banners themselves shouldn't have the standard dimensions, but rather unusual image dimensions.
- Nor should the code surrounding the image contain any references to advertising. So no DIV with the ID “Werbung” ...
- It is best if the banner graphic is on your web space, instead of incorporating an image URL that can be recognized as an advertising server.
If the banner is on the customer's webspace, you can at least give them these tips.
These tips should help at least some of the blocker users to ensure that the ads are displayed normally.
It is problematic when using external media servers that there is little that can be done to prevent detection by AdBlocker.
Anti-Block Plugins
There are ready-made plugins and scripts for all those who want to take action against users who use AdBlock.
However, one should also be careful with this, since it is often not worthwhile to force the convinced blocker users to advertise or, for example, to block the content.
WordPress offers a whole range of anti-ad blocker plugins.
The plug-in “ Anti-AdBlock ” shows returning readers a message on their 11th visit that they should deactivate their ad blocker.
You can also change this number and of course adapt the message.
Another plugin is, for example, WordPress AdBlock Blocker. However, this completely blocks the user with ad blockers. I find that exaggerated and not very helpful.
On hot-elle.de, zinformatik.de, and tutorials.de I also found scripts that enable the detection of an ad blocker and then offer several measures.
Perhaps these scripts could be used to show AdBlock users an old or old-fashioned theme, for example, or a funny message such as “This blog is about to close a door because you blocked advertising”.
Everyone has to know how to use these plugins and scripts.
Conclusion
Ad blockers are, of course, a difficult subject. But other media are also struggling with this. Like television.
In contrast, bloggers and website owners have some advantages. In this way, we can communicate with our readers and sensitize at least some of the fact that advertising is simply necessary to a certain extent.
In addition, bloggers and website operators of course have many other sources of income, so there should certainly only be a few who go bankrupt because 10 or 20% of users use ad blockers.
All in all, I don't see the topic as really problematic. Everyone was aware beforehand that advertising would never reach 100% of the readers.
Instead of simply ignoring, some readers are now relying on blockers. That's not nice and certainly not fair to honest bloggers and website owners. But this doesn't turn potential customers into ad blockers overnight.
In the end, the advertising industry will certainly cope with that, and when the first websites start asking for money for their content, some will want the days of banner advertising-funded websites back. :-)
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