A recent study by YouGov found that 15% of British adults are using ad blocking software. The main reason? They find online ads disruptive and annoying. Shocking, I know.

15% may not seem huge, but I can only imagine that figure will increase as more people become aware of this type of software (which seems likely given the amount of media coverage it has been getting recently). 

Why do people find ads annoying?

To get the answer to that question you only need to visit a few websites. And I don’t just mean dodgy little black hat types; I’m talking about some of the largest and best-known publishers in the UK. 

I hate to pick on the Independent because I do generally like its content, but I’m sorry: the display ads on its site are a total joke.

The screenshot of the Independent site below contains no fewer than five types of advert, one of which is an irrelevant video right in the middle of the article text that takes ages to load and then plays automatically.

But the worst part is those enormous vertical banners at the sides that follow you as you scroll. Not only are they visually obscene, they also slow your browser down to the point where it’s not even worth the hassle to scroll to the end of the article. 

Annoying display ads

This next one is just a train wreck.

Annoying display ads

Just so you don’t think I’m picking on the Indy, Sky uses the same annoying side banners, although they don’t seem to slow the site down as much as on the Independent. 

Annoying display ads

In the example below from Wired, the article text is actually wrapped around a massive advert. Just stop it. 

Annoying display ads

After looking at the above examples, why would anyone not block ads on these websites if they knew it was an option?

What can publishers do?

We’ve seen the statistics. We know people are blocking ads. So what can we do as publishers to protect our revenue without making our readers hate us?

Here are three things I think all publishers and online advertisers should aim to do:

1. Focus on quality content

You may have seen our recent post about Sourcepoint, effectively a blocker for ad blockers. 

Tempting as it may be for publishers to use this kind of software to protect their revenue, it doesn’t get to the root of the issue. A far better plan would be to focus on producing and displaying high quality ads that don’t feel intrusive or annoying. 

This way people will naturally be less inclined to use an ad blocker on your site. 

According to the research I mentioned earlier, only 52% of those who use ad blocking software it to block all online advertising. Not giving the other 48% a reason to specifically block them on your site seems like a good place to start, then.

The Buzzfeed site makes a good case study for this topic (although I appreciate it has the luxury of 200m+ unique visitors a month in traffic). Love it or hate it, Buzzfeed has managed to make an absolute killing without using a single banner ad. 

How does it do this? By creating sponsored content like the example below. 

Buzzfeed ad content

The important thing to note here is that these are not ‘advertorials’ in the traditional sense. They are pretty close to the kind of content Buzzfeed normally posts and don’t promote the sponsor’s products too blatantly.

The posts are produced by an in-house creative team, so there is no danger of losing the Buzzfeed ‘feel,’ whereas ‘advertorials’ (I despise that word) on most sites are written by external PR people. 

Here’s another example:

Buzzfeed ad content

This approach means Buzzfeed can get rid of banner ads altogether, instead publishing revenue-generating content that blends in with the rest of its site.

2. Develop other revenue streams

At Econsultancy we’re lucky enough that we don’t have to rely on ad revenue alone. As a result, we can keep display ads to a minimum on this blog. 

Econsultancy display ads

If your site relies entirely on ad revenue then it might be time to start exploring other ways to make money.

I’m saying this for two reasons: firstly, it is clear that more people are starting to block ads online, which means the earning potential is only likely to decrease over time. 

Secondly, having other revenue sources means you don’t have to be quite so ‘in your face’ with display ads. People will therefore be less likely to block them on your site. 

3. Be open and honest with consumers

I have to step up in defence of display advertising at this point. It’s far from perfect in its current form, but we live in an age where people want (no, expect) content free of charge, and ads largely makes this possible. 

So it is not only publishers that need to change their ways, but consumers of content, too. Blocking ads on your favourite publisher’s site is hypocritical at best. At worst, it’s a direct attack on that publisher’s business. 

The problem is, a lot of consumers probably don’t think about this, not because they don’t care but because they’re ignorant of the facts. 

Publishers should therefore start being open and honest about their business models. They should appeal to their readers not to use ad-blocking software if they want to carry on getting the content they love free of charge. 

Let’s meet in the middle

Of course publishers can’t expect their readers to put up with the kind of nonsense I showed in my examples above. But equally consumers can’t expect their favourite publishers to run for free.

It’s about everyone meeting in the middle, by creating better quality and less intrusive display ads, losing those stalking, browser-slowing sidebars from hell, and then asking readers not to use ad-blocking software in return.

That way, everyone wins.