Let’s face it – nobody wants a sea of ads when they open a webpage, link, or video on YouTube. According to recent statistics, internet users find ads to be intrusive, annoying, and disruptive, which creates a problem. In response to this problem, people are using various ad blockers to avoid the endless sea of ads on their favourite websites and social media platforms.
What is an Ad Blocker?
Ad blockers function as filtering tools for an internet user – integrated as a browse extension, 3rd-party software, or mobile app. Google Chrome also features a built-in ad blocker to block spam and malware links. Ad blockers alter a webpage’s content by crawling the webpage and comparing various scripts against filter lists and user preferences. If a script matches, the ad blocker blocks the content and informs the browser on what to render instead.
The Influence of Ad Blockers
With about 27% of internet users around the world using ad blockers, several websites offer premium subscriptions to their users as an alternative method of generating revenue because of a direct loss of revenue as a result of ads not being displayed and blocked instead. Some websites also detect ad blockers and prompt the user to whitelist their website before they can access the domain. By whitelisting a website on an ad blocker, the software will not scan the website for scripts, nor alter any content being displayed on the website.
The Pros and Cons of Ad Blockers for Businesses that Run Display Ads
When you run a Google Ads display campaign, your ads will pop up on the Google Display Network, which includes YouTube banner ads as well. Users can either run ad blockers or manually opt out of seeing Google display ads. Therefore, there are several pros and cons for businesses when considering the impact of ad blockers.
Pros – People who see your ads are not bothered by seeing ads in general, which means that they are more likely to respond to your ads as opposed to those who run ad blockers or pay for premium subscriptions. Ads with high ad quality rankings will also get you further and allow you to draw in higher quality leads.
Cons – People who run ad blockers or pay for premium subscriptions are likely to not see your ad at all. This decreases the overall impressions of your ads and click-through rate in general.
The Outcome of This Intriguing Situation
The simple outcome of this sticky situation is that businesses can utilise ad-blocking software and its direct impact on internet users to their advantage.
Although the largest drawback is the decreased impressions on your display ads, you can expect better quality leads when people click on your ads. It also gives you the opportunity to increase your overall ad quality and relevance to your target audience, which allows you to focus on important elements of your ads and play to your intended audience more easily!
As a business, you must make the best of any situation and make informed decisions to ensure a bright and prosperous future for your business. Laetus Life Consulting is your business partner when it comes to digital marketing solutions! Our digital marketing team can give you the means to benefit from Google Ads campaigns, SEO, and social media marketing for your business. Contact us today and let your business take flight online!