How Ad Blockers Reduce Your Profits
One of the main reasons why users enable ad-blocking tools is to avoid intrusive content. Also, ad scripts lower traffic and make the webpage run slower, which is irritating to most users. Being aware of malware risks and privacy-invading software, many users prefer to shut down ads for good.
However, blocking ads affects the revenue of many affiliate marketers, who earn most of their revenue from displaying advertisements. Thus, in 2018, publishers in the UK missed out on more than £18.4 million, compared to £13.7 million in 2017. The median annual publisher loss in 2018 was £932,875.
Adblocking costs webmasters and advertisers billions of dollars and the losses are growing year on year.
How Ad Blockers Work
Basically, ad blockers such as Adblock Plus, are applications that delete or alter advertising content on a webpage. The software filters all the scripts when loading the page and blocks ads of various formats: banners, videos, pop-ups, etc.
Users can whitelist a site on AdBlock and choose to see ads, while other online resources will be loaded without any advertising content.
How to Bypass Ad Blockers
The average global adblocking rate in early 2018 was estimated at 27%. This might be a big number, but the challenge is not insurmountable.
Let’s look into the most efficient ways to disable ad blockers and reach potential customers.
Use Anti-ad Blockers
Inserting an anti-ad blocking script into your website code is a virtuous way to circumvent ad-blocking programs. Below are two examples of technologies that can bypass ad-blocking software:
- With ReviveAds, you can display monetizable ads to visitors using ad blockers. Thus, even if they have their adblocking plugin active, the program will ask to whitelist your website in order to access its content.
- PropellerAds provides an anti-ad blocker code that allows you to display ads even if your visitors use ad blockers.
When choosing the right tool, take into account that some applications also collect statistics about the behavior of visitors, which can be a great asset.
Request to Turn off the Ad Blocker
You can install a script on your website that will detect Ad Blockers and hide the content before the visitor turns off the Ad Blocker. In this way you can face, for example, on Forbes.com:
Be careful, this feature may impact the behavior of your audience and some of them will leave your website without reading the content at all.
Native Ads
In contrast to regular ads that are rather obtrusive, native advertisements are usually viewed as part of the main page content they appear in. Such ads can sit within the feed of an article or appear as a recommendation or sponsored/branded content. In both cases, these banners appear native to the environment they are placed in and are relevant to your readers.
Thus, ad blockers don’t identify them as intrusive and load them along with the rest of the webpage’s content. Using native advertising can increase purchasing intent by 20%.
Videos With Rewards
Reward videos are an effective kind of advertisement that can be profitable for both users and advertisers. The user gets some kind of reward after watching the video, while the advertiser can reach out to a wider audience. In contrast to regular ads, which are displayed right after the page loads, viewers can choose to watch the reward video or not.
Reward videos can increase your app or website’s profits by 20% to 40%.
Audio Ads
Ad blockers are generally designed to detect visual ads, which is why audio ads might be a win-win decision. These are short tracks that suggest a bonus to the user upon completion.
In terms of efficiency, audio ads outperform other types of media advertising because they have a bigger influence on long-term memory. You can insert an audio ad into a podcast or video, where it will remain unnoticed by ad blockers and better remembered by your target audience.
Focus on Mobile Advertising
While blocking ads via desktop apps or browsers is common, mobile advertising might be a great alternative. According to IAB, only about 6% of users have ad-blocking software on their smartphones.
More Ways to Monetize Your Website
Diversification of your ad content might be the right step towards monetizing your website. Below are some examples of effective ad strategies.
Sponsored Posts
Sponsored posts look just like regular content. For the most part, they are educational and entertaining as well as promotional. Such posts are not seen as advertising and are not blocked by anti-ad software. Thus, they are an incredible way to expand your reach.
However, you are supposed to disclose the paid nature of your sponsored posts and your relationship with the advertiser. Also, it might take more time to compose a full-fledged article than to create a regular ad.
Affiliate Marketing
With affiliate marketing, you can earn a commission on sales made through your affiliate links. Simply place a relevant link, widget, or banner to incentivize website visitors to make a purchase.
The success of this strategy depends on the value of your content to users, the relevancy of the solutions introduced by that content, and the credibility of your reputation.
Much like sponsored posts, affiliate links are not hidden by ad blockers.
To earn on the flights, hotels, car rentals and other travel services join the Travelpayouts affiliate network for free today.
Travelpayouts tools are not regarded by AdBlock as advertising, as they bring additional value to users of the site, for example, a Map widget in the Hotellook affiliate program.
Paid Content
This strategy involves offering the juiciest parts of your content to paid members only. To make this work, it’s vital to bring real value to your audience so that they are ready to pay for access to restricted content.
In contrast to other monetization techniques, a paid subscription allows users to avoid disruptive ads and enhance their reading experience.
Off-Site Ads
Your website might not be the only place to distribute your ads. There are many platforms to advertise on, such as newsletters, social media, paid searches, etc.
How to Get Around Ad Blockers and Retain Your Audience
Digital marketers constantly think of new ways to advertise, expand their reach, and overcome ad-blocking software. There are multiple ways to do so, for example, using tools that allow publishers to bypass ad blockers and display ads anyway or change the format to audio, video, or native advertisement. Besides, you don’t need to stick to a single monetization method and can explore other options as well, such as affiliate marketing, sponsored posts, or paid content.
