Adblocking is a ‘modern-day protection racket’, says culture secretary — yes, now understand why.

Today the Guardian published an article quoting John Whittingdale — culture secretary — offering support to the newspaper, music industries and others hit by adblocking software. Whittingdale added that he will set up a round table on the issue.

Now, I agree that it is a problem that industries are losing revenue that they have relied upon. What I do not agree with is the insinuation that the adblocking software is wholly to blame or the lack of understanding that this is the way the market is going. We do not want to be advertised to every second of every day with spammy advertising banners.

Instead of messages from companies that shout in our faces that we need what they are offering, advertisements that tell a story are getting the most return.

Think of the Christmas adverts in the United Kingdom. Whatever your opinion is on which retail chain did the best advert this year, you cannot deny that you watched for the story or the hype. And then, maybe some of you and went out and bought the penguin or the telescope. Big brands need to tell the story of how shopping, or working, with them will make the consumer feel and tap into their values. They need to do every bit of this and not assume that they are. The name of the game is ‘real value’.

Apple’s success of tapping into the ‘why’ has been well documented and is a classic example here. Each advert doesn’t show the benefits and features of the phone in the infomercial-way. Rather, it shows how the phone fits into the daily life of consumers with bubbly music and some form of wit in the narration.

Public opinion on advertisement has clearly and undeniably shifted. Instead of trying to figure out how to market adverts to people that do not even want to see it and are less likely to go to your site over time because of it, find a different way to gain revenue. Explore other opportunities to fund journalism and the arts. But do not think that by ‘damming’ adblocker software that this is going to change anything.

The people have spoken.