Keeping Ad Blocking In Perspective; Cutting Out The Middleman

Here’s today’s AdExchanger.com news round-up… Want it by email? Sign-up here.

Sweating Out The Fever

For anyone who recently emerged from hibernation, ad blocking has sent digital media into an existential tailspin. But in an interview with The Wall Street Journal’s Amir Mizroch, Criteo COO Erich Eichman says the ad tech bellwether is “yet to see an impact on its (operating) numbers.” Eichman believes the industry is more insulated than many suppose, since publishers and consumers would push back against the loss of free content. Read on.

Just Say No?

A few publishers are kicking ad tech middlemen to the curb, Mike Shields reports for The Wall Street Journal. Mic.com founder Chris Altchek tells him, “We looked at what ad tech looked like three years ago or so, and we saw that the experience was bad for users and didn’t look like it worked well for advertisers anyway. … Even if you do it and did it really well, you still don’t make a lot of money.” The problem here is deciding what to include and not to include in the “ad tech” bucket. Ad servers? Programmatic direct deals? Read it.

Baby Bundles

It’s easy to see the disintegration of linear subscription TV as a slow-moving, inevitable process, like the melting of a glacier. But a pair of New York Times reporters dig into the data with Nielsen’s SVP of audience insights, Glenn Enoch, and see an interesting shift among millennials as the generation matures. Young millennials are the most likely demo to have cut the cord, but those with families (primarily low to mid 30s) are 80% cable subscribers, with an additional 14% using an antenna (often citing concerns over child-friendly programming). There are other variables skewing those numbers, but it’s a potentially consequential trend for overall ad budgets. Read it.

The Revenue Doesn’t Disappear

Snapchat has kicked its marketing capabilities into high gear over the past few months, with high-profile deals in politics, live events and media (oh, and Truffle Pig). Now Hannah Kuchler of the Financial Times reports on the messaging app’s new sponsored lens product (so users could, say, automatically insert a branded object such as a Marvel superhero outfit). For upcoming Halloween, Thanksgiving or Black Friday, Snapchat is asking $750,000 per day. On an “off-peak day” it’s a meager $450,000. More.

Disappearing Act

A mystery buyer purchased browser extension Adblock (not to be mistaken with Adblock Plus, the world’s most installed blocker). The terms and reasoning behind the deal remain unknown, according to Owen Williams at The Next Web. The app has been sustained to date by gifts and donations raised by founder Michael Gundlach (who no longer runs the company – another topic nobody in the matter is willing to discuss). The company relies on Adblock Plus’ Acceptable Ads initiative, which is yet another reason why the sale is perplexing. More.