Ad Blockers & Ad Targeting

UPDATE: Video transcript available for ‘Ad Blockers & Ad Targeting’.

Back in 1990 just before I discovered the Internet, I was selling newspaper advertising. I’d already got into computers a few years earlier with my trusty Spectravideo SV318.

I worked for a newspaper called The Melbourne Times and I used to look after all the restaurants & entertainment advertising. Back then you used to have prepare the campaign, ad copy, frequency etc. Get the work proofed and fight for the best position in the paper with the publisher. Our metrics of success were based on how many people came through the door. Even though we had circulation and readership numbers we really had no idea how many people would see the ad. If sales & bookings increased around the time the ad was published though, then we attributed it to our work. These days, with digital advertising we can measure things out the wazoo.

Facebook Thinks I’m A Gay Male Who Needs Undies Protection

I’m flummoxed as to why I should see ads like this.

Putting these ads in front of me is a wasted impression that you are paying for. If the agencies that placed these ads were monitoring conversions ( unlikely they were even setup) they would know that there is something very wrong with their campaigns. They seem at least geo-targeted, with the use of the word undies and mention of Melbourne but that’s about it.

Of course that is just the tip of the iceberg. I’m sure we’re all used to irrelevant ads that follow us around the web because we may have stumbled on a site once and then we see their ads everywhere they go. This is Google Remarketing. Most of it that I see is not done very well. Facebook has a similar product.

Remarketing & Retargeting

With Facebook, I can put you in a list if you have visited my website in the last say, 120 days and show you an ad when you go back into Facebook. It can be tailored to the actual page you visited or didn’t. For instance if you went to a certain product page but not the checkout I can show you an ad for that product with a special offer.

The fundamental difference with Google remarketing and Facebook retargeting is the venue (I stole that from my old mate @ed_dale). Google puts ads in front of me when I am on the web doing something else. I maybe working, researching or I may just be goofing off. When I’m inside Facebook, I’m goofing off. It’s essentially personal time. It’s rare though that I see ads take this into account with their targeting.

Another way of retargeting users is to upload your email database to Facebook. Facebook will then see if those email addresses are used with Facebook accounts and allow you to target those users directly with ads. We’ve found that people who are already familiar with your brand are more likely to convert on Facebook.

Google has now announced a similar product. An advertiser can upload the email databases to adwords and create separate campaigns for these users. This is the catch though. Those users will only see the ads if their email address is one they use to sign into Google. You don’t have to be signed into Google to use their products, so this will dramatically decrease the audience size. However search intent is very different to display. When I’m in search I am actively looking for something, so I am far more likely to click on your ad if it matches my search as opposed to Facebook where I’m watching epic fail videos and you happen to put an ad in front of me.

Rise Of The Adblocker

We’ve had them for years but now iOS9 released last week now has the ability to block ads in safari mobile. Ad blocker Apps immediately went to the top of the charts in itunes store the day after indicating a huge demand for the tech. This will definitely affect the Google display network, probably not Facebook at this stage anyway. At some point it the tech will probably affect Google Adwords in the SERPs. The main drivers for take up on mobile for the tech are listed as being, increased speed and less data used on your mobile plan. Google has taken the opportunity to suggest if you don’t want to see ads on it’s sites use the Google paid version. Yeah right. And give Google even more data about me? I don’t think so.

Advertisers need to change

As this article discusses so many advertisers are throwing their money away on ridiculous ad networks and not monitoring their goals, or worse they have no goals to monitor. With over 50% of traffic being mobile now for many sites these types of networks will take a significant hit if these adblocking apps popularity increases.

I think we will eventually see apps to block Google ads in the SERPS and Facebook ad blocking.A change is coming to the way we target mobile ads. I don’t know what it will be. Maybe more focus on email advertising for retargeting? What sort of marketing would you find acceptable on mobile? Love to hear your thoughts.