Ad blocking is a weak link problem
The solution has to be a community effort
I was listening to Malcom Gladwell’s fantastic new podcast, Revisionist History, where he discusses the economic theory of weak link vs. strong link networks.
A weak link network is when an above average group matters most.
Basically, if you make the weakest links better (or above average), you will have a better network. The example Gladwell gives is soccer. A star soccer player doesn’t have as much impact as having the best weak link players. How often do you see Lionel Messi take the ball the full length of the field and score?
(Okay, maybe in video games.)
A strong link network is when a couple great people matter most.
Gladwell uses basketball as an example of a strong link network. Having one or two star players can help you win a championship. Championship teams follow Lebron James (the NBA’s best player) every where he goes, and when he leaves, those same teams are perennial losers.
Ad blocking
This got me thinking about the ad tech ecosystem and ad blocking. Ad blocking usage has increased as a result of the current digital advertising bubble. Regardless of what some people are saying, adoption of ad blockers are still growing and haven't even scratched the surface on mobile devices.
But why are users blocking ads? This is an important question, because the answer reveals what the ad tech industry needs to improve to stem ad blocking growth. Hubspot, Pagefair, and others have done some great research on this question:
Based on the research, it’s pretty clear that the act of advertising is not what causes people to use ad blockers, but rather the bad UX those ads produce.
The weak links
Many of today’s problems in digital media are subject to the weak link network theory. There are so many sources of news and entertainment these days. If enough bad apples produce fake news, clickbait, ad fraud, privacy vulnerabilities, malware, or badvertising*, users are more likely to download ad blockers to sidestep these issues. In response, publishers have to convince users to whitelist their site(s), which can be a big challenge.
Community
When operating in spaces susceptible to weak link conditions, it’s important to invest in the community as a whole. Thead tech/publisher ecosystem needs to invest time and money to address the weak link issues (specifically badvertising based on the data). Visibility into the causes of poor ad experiences, who the bad actors are, and how to get rid of the them is required for the community to improve.
In the next few weeks I will be diving deeper into how each group within the ad tech ecosystem (namely brands, agencies, publishers, exchanges) can do their part to improve the ad experience. If there are any other groups you think should be covered, please let us know.
* I’m coining this term. Badvertising = bad advertising
