As consumers, we are inundated with advertisements on a daily basis: on our phones, on our computers, on billboards, on TV. Sometimes seeing ads can help us discover what we need for ourselves or the perfect birthday gift for a loved one. However, many times we find the online ad experience annoying or maybe even deceptive.
There is a large financial incentive to continue with the current advertisement model. Just a year ago, Google’s ad revenue was over $40 Billion and Facebook’s ad revenue was just over $20 Billion[1]. As companies look to serve more ads to increase their revenue, the online user experience is deteriorating. As a result, the consumers are fighting back by installing ad blockers. Ad blockers have been growing at a rate of 30% year over year[2]. Users cite poor experience as a critical reason for installing ad blockers[3]. This has sparked an arms race between ad blockers and ad-based websites where websites are detecting ad blockers and refusing to allow those users on their site unless they whitelist the page or disable their ad blocker. The result is disappointing to website owners because 74% of users leave sites with adblock walls[4].
Is there a compromise? According to the same sources, 77% of users are willing to view ads that are not disruptive to their experience on the websites they view. Google is trying to stop invasive and misleading ads through its Chrome browser[5], but a fundamental question remains; should the companies that are incentivized to display ads be trusted in determining which ads are the best for user experience? We asked ourselves what the internet would be like if users could determine what content is the best for their experience. The result is Adsterisksm, a tool that will allow users to identify, avoid, report, or see alternatives to deceptive advertising, and help improve the online user experience for all. Follow us to learn more about how the product works and how you can be an early adopter!
[1] https://www.emarketer.com/content/digital-ad-buyers-say-google-facebook-deliver-the-best-roi
[2] https://pagefair.com/downloads/2017/01/PageFair-2017-Adblock-Report.pdf
[3] https://www.emarketer.com/Chart/Reasons-that-UK-Internet-Users-Use-Ad-Blockers-Q3-2016-of-respondents/200785
[4] https://pagefair.com/downloads/2017/01/PageFair-2017-Adblock-Report.pdf
[5] https://www.foxnews.com/tech/google-chrome-to-crack-down-on-invasive-misleading-ads