China's UC Browser Is A Huge Source Of Ad Blocking; Mondelez Goes For Content Partnerships

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

Around The Block

PageFair released its “2016 Mobile Adblocking Report” in conjunction with the mobile data firm Priori Data on Tuesday. The report highlights one huge player in mobile ad blocking which rarely gets the attention it deserves: UC Browser, a Chinese mobile web browser that blocks ads and recently passed Safari to become the world’s second most popular browser (trailing Google’s Chrome). In China, India and Indonesia, more than 300 million people block ads via the UC Browser, and of all the people in the world who use an app or browser for ad-block services, 93% do it via the UC platform.

Snackable Media

Mondelez is trying to “find new ways to connect with people who are ignoring traditional advertising and finding new ways to block even newer forms of marketing.” So it’s placing a big bet on branded and unbranded content partnerships – with digital players like BuzzFeed, established TV nets like Fox and even film studio deals. Mondelez’s global head of content and media monetization, Laura Henderson, tells Ad Age, “The content game is a really hard one and so we’re focused on partnering with those who are best equipped to understand their audience (and) communicate in a compelling way.” More.

CPG Catches Up

Digital ad spend from CPGs will grow over 18% this year to almost $6 billion, an eMarketer study forecasts. Despite being one of the biggest ad-spending categories overall, the CPG vertical has traditionally lagged behind in digital advertising. (It will account for just 8.7% of total US digital ad spend even after this surge.) But CPG will have one of the fastest growth rates in 2016 at 13.5%, coming in behind only auto and entertainment. Digital advertising will continue to grow at a double-digit pace across all verticals through 2020. More.

Reaching The 1%

Digital will overtake print and TV in luxury ad spend by 2017, according to ZenithOptimedia’s Luxury Advertising Expenditure Forecast, released on Tuesday. In that year digital channels will account for 32% worth of luxury brand ad spend, but it’s not entirely at the expense of other channels. TV, cinema and radio will collectively add $26 million in incremental spending, as print and outdoor shrink by $150 million and $10 million, respectively. More on The Drum.

But Wait, There’s More!