Today’s Topic: AdBlockers. In the wake of Wired blocking blockers, let’s discuss if this is a good move for the industry as a whole.
Overview
Using AdBlockers doesn’t kill a site, publishers can still focus on native advertising, sponsored posts, paywalls, donation, etc. There’s a definite cry from big publishers how your browsing is hurting them. I personally found Wired’s advertising obtrusive, flashing videos that pop in midway through content, moving content while I’m reading, etc. It makes reading their site unbearable for me without blockers. This is not a problem for you as a user to solve, but one for the publishers to solve and adapt to.
The Good:
- Ad revenue can be a big source of income for small shops.
- Allows for a small / passive income and repurposing/packaging of blog content.
- Help pay for a higher quality, professional product.
The Bad:
- Most ads are intrusive, poorly designed, and don’t fit into a typical page flow.
- Ads can make a pages elements move as they load at different times.
- Ads increase mobile load times.
- Ads are tracking the hell out of you. Privacy shouldn’t be given away for free.
Design Considerations:
- Grid layout: incorporate an ad or sponsor to sit seamlessly in product or blog lineup.
- Hardcode a space for ads so no resizing / doesn’t break content flow.
- Breaks analytics, accurate capture of userdata
- Forces focus on good SEO to get client noticed. Can’t buy your way to the top.
Blockers
- Ghostery – hides you from ads, but can enable Ghostrank, which collects anonymous data about how you use it, sells it to advertisers.
- uBlock – allows for malware lists and sites to be blocked.
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