You may have heard about this recent piece of news and be wondering what implications it might have for both users and businesses alike.
In a change that occurred in January internet users can now ‘control the type of adverts they see.’ This sounds like a blanketed statement but closer inspection reveals that this only applies on a case by case basis and the user will need to manually activate this. This kind of makes sense – if you get so fed up of seeing something time and time again, you will naturally want the ability to do something about it.
Users will now we able to see specifically who is remarketing to them by visiting an area of their Google account (specifically, ad settings – your reminder ads.) From this section, users will be able to see what businesses are using Google’s ad network to remarket to them, with them then having the ability to be able to stop (mute) these adverts from showing.
This sounds perfect for the user – they will have greater control on what adverts they see with the ability to stop them if they get annoying. This means that their Google experience should be more user friendly and productive. Perhaps the advertisers are not so thrilled about this change however?
The concern for advertisers
The issue of this topic and it’s quite contentious nature has been floating around for some time. Google is not the first to take steps to intervene as Apple made attempts to make redress. The importance here is balance – trying to keep the user friendly experience going whilst respecting and recognising the need for and the economic benefits that advertising brings.
Some things advertisers need to be aware of concerning this change include:
1) If a user decides to mute the adverts, it applies to all adverts from that business not just the specific ad in question.
2) This currently applies to Google display network Ads only, but there are plans to extend this to search and platforms such as YouTube and Gmail.
3) A ‘mute’ can last up to 90 days meaning adverts can be blocked to individuals for a quarter of the year!
The real reasons and impact?
Google claims it has received billions of messages from disgruntled users who stated that displayed adverts were not relevant. Google was then able to not show / delete a number of these based on that feedback received. Perhaps this change is a greater roll out of this principle?
One the one hand advertisers have serious cause to complain about this because of potential damage it could do to their marketing strategies. However this can be counteracted by Google arguing that more relevant and targeted ads are beneficial for both sides. One thing which has been suggested is an ‘antidote’ type feature for advertisers, where they can be notified and monitor those adverts which have been blocked – something which is possible as Google haven’t ruled it out.
The other argument could be around the 90 day mute period. Is this too long and has it been taken a bit too far? Others would argue that anything shorter would be as good as pointless in having the feature anyway – again another delicately balanced point.
This is certainly a topic which will unfold further over the coming weeks. Will there be a revision of policy related to this because of pressure from either side? Most probably!
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