Ad Blocking is causing considerable ripples in the world of marketing, and in many ways is re-defining the rules of advertisement in the online space. Producers are increasingly become more worried as the advertisements that they are putting up on the page are not reaching the targeted audience. Perhaps what is causing the producers to pull out their hair is the fact that the most ads are blocked by those people who have been identified as the target audience.

In the current context, when the opportunities to generate revenues from websites have increased, advertisements still assume a very important role, and in many cases extract the maximum revenue. Hence the producers still place their bets on online advertisements, and hence try to club as many advertisements’ as possible on a particular page, or a platform.

These results in a cramped up space which reduces the loading speed considerably, leading to frustrated users, who have no option but to block these ads.

So the ad blocking technology identifies a list of IP addresses of few advertisers, and once it detects contents coming from any one theses IPs, it discards them, and the blank space is then filled by relevant content. The publishers suffer massive losses in the process. Currently, most of the ad blockers are employed to deal with ‘menacing’ pop-ups, roll-over videos and frequent advertisements that request approvals. Add to it the infuriatingly slow speed of the networks and it is not very difficult to understand the frustration of the users.

What then for the publishers? How are they planning to evolve and find a viable solution to tackle the ad blockers and minimize the losses that they are accruing?

The very first process would be to identify how the advertisement experience can be improved and how this can be dissipated to the end-user, so that ads do not become a nuisance but acts as a complimentary of the information the user is seeking for. Also, the publishers could grant more freedom and control to the users to manipulate the advertisements according to their whims and fancies.

Even when the publishers observe that the users are more inclined to using ad-blockers, there should always be a provision that the ads can re-appear, albeit in a different context. The importance of re-engagement should always be maintained. Typically sponsored content might be used to skirt the ad-blockers.

In the cases, where in-spite of many attempts the users have still blocked ads; other mediums of presenting the products should be explored. For instance short video clips, audio-video clippings etc. Only being dependent on display may prove to be detrimental in the longer run.

Also, the publisher should brief his team about the problems being faced and encourage discussions that can offer different solutions. Keep the team abreast about the different trends; i.e., about the types of ads being blocked and find ways to tackle such situations.

Likewise, short surveys can be conducted to gauge the mentality and preferences of the users and devise a strategy accordingly.

The issue is a complex one and one that is here to stay and cause many sleepless nights for the publishers, and in the end the ones who tread the path with caution and the ones who are armed with a sound strategy will survive the storm.