Are ads killing the internet?
- Written by News Feature
Whilst the internet has certainly afforded us an unprecedented and convenient way to conduct a multitude of tasks ranging from playing games on our mobiles to even booking transatlantic flights, it has also delivered more than a few unwanted features too.
And whilst the likes of ‘trolling’ on social networks might be one of the more vigorous instances of negativity on the internet, sometimes its the more benign instances of advertising that cause the greatest amounts of irritation.
Online turn-off
As it’s thought that it takes just a matter of seconds for a user to decide whether they will stay on a web page, many people will find the obtrusive use of advertising to be a big turn-off.
The rise of interstitial ads that take up a full web page recently came under the scrutiny of Google who sought to penalise such instances in their search algorithms as they were thought to adversely affect the user’s web experience.
Such interstitial ads are an attempt to get the user to download a relevant app, but such was the revulsion felt by web users for the adverts that advert-blocking software such as AdBlock quickly became one of the biggest hits on the internet for allowing users to surf the web without the obtrusive advertisements.
Marketing fightback
The fact that one million Australians were using ad-blocking software was quickly met with howls of protest from many marketing firms who were horrified to see their aggressive new marketing weapons swiftly blunted.
As a result, many websites made an attempt to ensure that users understood how essential advertising revenues were for their affairs blocking content to users who had installed AdBlock.
However, many websites have managed to successfully navigate the advertising minefield. The Australian newspaper has successfully run a subscription method which keeps advertising minimised, whereas Lucky Nugget Casino’s website and games have managed to remain ad-free and allow gamers to browse many of their mobile games without any unnecessary advertising that would compromise their gaming pleasure.
Ad warfare
However, the latest episode in the ad-wars saga shows just how serious things have become. A former CEO of Mozilla recently unveiled a beta version of a web-browser that blocks ads by default. But the catch with the fledgling Brave browser is that once it has blocked the original ads, it will then replace them with other adverts that are considered less invasive of the user’s privacy.
So whether it’s a user looking for a simple way to access some online games, or a brand looking to get its message across to the largest possible audience, it seems that the battle for advertising space just got a lot more complicated.