state of adblocking update q1 2016
TRANSCRIPT
The State of Adblocking Q1 2016
April 2016Augustine Fou, PhD.acfou [at] mktsci.com 212. 203 .7239
April 2016 / Page 2marketing.scienceconsulting group, inc.
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Humans use adblock, fraud bots don’t block ads
Publisher 1
Challenge all assumptions• Ad blocking on mobile is not necessarily
lower than desktop; lower numbers may be due to incomplete detection
• Ad blocking ranges observed are from single digit percentages to over 50%
• It is critical to disclose the portion of the data that is not measurable (see the row that has no value; “1” means ad block)
• Younger audiences do not always have higher ad blocking
• Tech savvy gamers appear to have the highest rates of ad blocking
“We have long used ad block detection as a signal for human users because humans use adblock. Bots used to commit ad fraud don’t because they want the ad impressions to load.”
1 = adblock positively detected0 = adblock positively detected to be not present
(blank) = no detection, unmeasurable
April 2016 / Page 3marketing.scienceconsulting group, inc.
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UPDATED: Full Year Digital Ad Spend – $50B
Impressions(CPM/CPV)
Clicks(CPC)
Leads(CPL)
Sales(CPA)
Search 38%$18.8B
Video 7%$3.5B
Lead Gen 4%$2.0B
10% Other$5.0B
Source: IAB, FY 2014 Internet Advertising Report, May 2015$42.5B
Display 16%$7.9B
Mobile 25%$6.2B$6.2B
CPM Performance
• classifieds• sponsorship• rich media
$7.0B
April 2016 / Page 4marketing.scienceconsulting group, inc.
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Ad blocking impacts up to 86% of digital spend
Everyone knows ad blocking removes display, video, and mobile ads, but did you know it also blocks search ads?
$42.5B of $50B may be impacted by ad blocking
April 2016 / Page 5marketing.scienceconsulting group, inc.
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Bot and Ad Block Detection Toolset
April 2016 / Page 6marketing.scienceconsulting group, inc.
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Detection Toolset – Javascript “tag”
• Uses standard javascript APIs which are set and maintained by W3C
• The javascript “tag” collects details about the browser like the version, the operating system, screen resolution, plugins, etc.
• No personally identifiable information is collected
• Users don’t interact with it in any way – does not log in, enter any data
• The collected data points are combined together to generate anonymous “fingerprint”
• Cookies can be turned on and off as necessary.
• Not all parameters are collected for every visit
SAMPLE
April 2016 / Page 7marketing.scienceconsulting group, inc.
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Where we deploy our tag
In-ad (display ads served)On-site (clients’ websites)
• To detect and characterize each visitor to the website
• Installed just like Google Analytics via 2 lines of code
• Served in the ad creative in order to characterize the user that caused the ad to load
April 2016 / Page 8marketing.scienceconsulting group, inc.
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Examples of common parameters collected
'time''window''appVersion''video''product''sessionStorage''localStorage''vendor''productSub''appCodeName''inner''cookieEnabled''appName''platform''timezone''cookies''language''doNotTrack''frame''hidden''outer''vendorSub''url''userAgent''fontrender''referrer''clock''sort''globals''TIMESTAMP''cookie''HTTP_USER_AGENT''HTTP_CONNECTION'
'HTTP_X_FORWARDED_FOR''HTTP_ACCEPT''HTTP_ACCEPT_LANGUAGE''GEO_LAT_0''GEO_LNG_0''GEO_CITY_0''GEO_REGION_0''GEO_COUNTRY_0''GEO_IP_0''GEO_AS_0''HTTP_ACCEPT_ENCODING''devicelight''document''framerate''plugins''HTTP_REFERER''orientation''HTTP_COOKIE''motion''mousemove''HTTP_DNT''scroll''custom_site''custom_campaign''custom_advertiser''custom_IO''custom_placement''custom_creative''custom_adunit''custom_section''HTTP_CACHE_CONTROL''mousedown''mouseup'
'click''touchstart''HTTP_UA_CPU''touchend''touchmove''HTTP_VIA''HTTP_X_WAP_PROFILE''HTTP_X_REQUESTED_WITH''HTTP_ACCEPT_CHARSET''HTTP_X_UIDH''keydown''keyup''touchcancel''GEO_LNG_1''GEO_IP_1''GEO_AS_1''GEO_COUNTRY_1''GEO_REGION_1''GEO_CITY_1''GEO_LAT_1''HTTP_X_ATT_DEVICEID''HTTP_X_BLUECOAT_VIA''keypress''HTTP_PRAGMA''HTTP_DEVICE_STOCK_UA’'clicktype''HTTP_X_IMFORWARDS''HTTP_FORWARDED''HTTP_CLIENT_IP''HTTP_X_GETZIP''HTTP_X_OPERAMINI_PHONE_UA''HTTP_X_OPERAMINI_PHONE''HTTP_X_OPERAMINI_FEATURES'
'GEO_AS_2''HTTP_SCHEME''GEO_IP_2''GEO_COUNTRY_2''GEO_REGION_2''GEO_CITY_2''GEO_LNG_2''GEO_LAT_2''"frame''HTTP_X_P2P_PEERDIST''"clock''"document''HTTP_XROXY_CONNECTION''HTTP_PREFER''"devicelight''"scroll''HTTP_PROXY_CONNECTION''select''HTTP_CONTENT_SUPORT''HTTP_X_REAL_IP''HTTP_X_NETWORK_TYPE''"framerate''"mousemove''HTTP_X_BROWSER_TYPE''HTTP_X_NOKIA_DEVICE_TYPE''HTTP_X_MOBILE_GATEWAY''HTTP_X_COUNTRY_CODE''"globals''HTTP_CLIENTIP''HTTP_VERSION''"plugins''"touchend''noscript'
April 2016 / Page 9marketing.scienceconsulting group, inc.
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Highlights of Findings
April 2016 / Page 10marketing.scienceconsulting group, inc.
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Non-profitsNon-profit 1
Non-profit 3
Non-profit 2 Adblocking3% 12%
Mobile4% 12%
Unmeasurable8% 19%
8%
10%
6% 19%
Desktop
MobileDesktop
• Non-profit sites that carry no advertising show relatively modest ad blocking rates
• The rate of unmeasurable visits are very similar comparing desktop versus mobile
April 2016 / Page 11marketing.scienceconsulting group, inc.
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University websitesUniversity 1
University 3
University 2 Adblocking7% 19%
Mobile7% 16%
Unmeasurable5% 10%
15%
14%
10% 18%
Desktop
MobileDesktop
• Desktop and mobile adblocking is similar• Unmeasurable rate is higher in mobile• Younger audiences don’t necessarily have
higher ad blocking than general population• A third of visitors to websites are using mobile
April 2016 / Page 12marketing.scienceconsulting group, inc.
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Publishers – ad supportedPublisher 1
Publisher 3
Publisher 2Adblocking
12% 27%
Mobile12% 33%
Unmeasurable5% 8%
20%
28%
6% 14%
Desktop
MobileDesktop
• Visitors to publishers that are ad supported show higher ad blocking rates (than university and non-profit sites that are not ad supported)
• Mobile users appear to have higher ad blocking rates
• Mobile is also more unmeasurable
April 2016 / Page 13marketing.scienceconsulting group, inc.
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Tech and GamingSite 1
Site 3
Site 2 Adblocking9% 33%
Mobile3% 42%
Unmeasurable3% 16%
27%
35%
7% 18%
Desktop
MobileDesktop
• Tech savvy visitors to these sites have the highest measured ad blocking rates
• Unmeasurable rate is similar between desktop and mobile
April 2016 / Page 14marketing.scienceconsulting group, inc.
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How ad block measurement tools may undercount true rate
Javascript measurement tags NOT LOADED
high22%17%
21%
DIRECTLY MEASURED Ad Blocking Rate
low
average
Javascript measurement tags loaded
8% 17%
True rate of the use of ad blocking39%
Some ad tags and javascript measurement tags are now being blocked -- i.e. unmeasurable
unmeasurable
April 2016 / Page 15marketing.scienceconsulting group, inc.
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About the Author
April 2016 / Page 16marketing.scienceconsulting group, inc.
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Dr. Augustine Fou – Recognized Expert on Ad Fraud
2013
2014
2015SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS / PANELS4A’s Webinar on Ad Fraud – October Digital Ad Fraud Podcast – JanuaryProgrammatic Ad Fraud Webinar – MarchAdCouncil Webinar on Ad Fraud - AprilTelX Marketplace Live – JuneARF Audience Measurement – JuneIAB Webinar on Ad Fraud / Botnets - September
April 2016 / Page 17marketing.scienceconsulting group, inc.
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Harvard Business Review – October 2015
Excerpt:
Hunting the Bots
Fou, a prodigy who earned a Ph.D. from MIT at 23, belongs to the generation that witnessed the rise of digital marketers, having crafted his trade at American Express, one of the most successful American consumer brands, and at Omnicom, one of the largest global advertising agencies. Eventually stepping away from corporate life, Fou started his own practice, focusing on digital marketing fraud investigation.
Fou’s experiment proved that fake traffic is unproductive traffic. The fake visitors inflated the traffic statistics but contributed nothing to conversions, which stayed steady even after the traffic plummeted (bottom chart). Fake traffic is generated by “bad-guy bots.” A bot is computer code that runs automated tasks.