What Happened
Facebook is taking measures to render ad-blockers useless on its desktop site. The social network is masking the signifiers that ad-blockers use to detect digital ads, effectively making ad content indistinguishable from non-advertising content. This new anti-ad-blocking initiative will only affect desktop users, as ads served in Facebook’s mobile apps are typically not affected by mobile ad-blockers. The company is also promising users more options to personalize their ad experience with a updated Ad Preference tool.
What Brands Need To Do
Even though the majority of Facebook users are now accessing the service on mobile devices, its desktop site still draws significant online traffic because of Facebook’s massive user base. So this anti-ad-blocking initiative should help Facebook recover some viewability of its desktop ads. Moreover, this move encapsulates Facebook’s strategy in dealing with the increasing usage of ad-blockers –– blocking ad-blocking usage but also working on improving the ad experience –– is a strategy that brands should benefit from as it seeks to improve both the viewability of Facebook ads and the relevance of those ads. In the meantime, brands should try their hands at native ads or branded content to reach consumers that are growing tired of subpar digital ad experiences and are therefore turning to ad-blockers.
For more information on how brands can effectively reach consumers who are actively choosing to avoid ads, please check out the Ad Avoidance section of our Outlook 2016.
Source: New York Times