Last week we started our discussion on what content blocking is and why audiences have been increasingly downloading these browser extensions. Even with more than 198 million people using some sort of content blocking add-on however, we don’t think this is the end of digital publishing, but a new start. The industry has come up against similar changes in the past and innovated to meet the changing trends. We can see this happening again, with publishers moving to deliver advertising and revenue models that better meet audience expectations.
Here are four ways publishers have managed to support and monetize their brand while maintaining user experience:
Sponsored and branded content
We touched a little upon native content in part one of our ad blocking series. This type of advertising is a great way to deliver content that speaks to audience needs, and doesn’t seem “spammy”. A good example of a publication creating a native advertising opportunity is the recent website changes implemented by Allrecipes. Among the new features of the update is the ability for users to follow other cooks and share what they’ve created to Facebook. This feature can also be used by brands to create their own pages, as Swanson (part of Campbell Soup) has, and share content with their fans and followers. This allows Swanson to improve their customer service and also creates a better experience for users of Allrecipes, who gain access to relevant content. Native advertising works when the goal is not to “trick” consumers into interacting with ads, but rather to provide (branded) content that audiences would chose to engage with anway.
Prevent ad blockers from accessing content
Many websites, such as German publisher Axel Springer’s Bild, have turned to blocking access to content unless users turn off ad blocking. Axel Springer says their visitors will be asked to switch off ad blockers or pay a monthly fee of 2.99 euros to view the website (mostly) ad-free. The Washington Post has tested a similar policy, wherein readers using adblock were asked to either disable ad blocking, sign up for the newsletter or subscribe for a paid subscription. As a spokesperson for the Post explained, “Without income via subscriptions or advertising, we are unable to deliver the journalism that people coming to our site expect from us.” Still other publications, such as TechDirt for example, are experimenting by requesting audiences to view ads but giving them the option to turn them off if desired. This allows the audience to make an informed decision on the cost of their ad blocking, and whether they’re willing to pay it. We’re still waiting to see how these efforts pan out in the long run.
Paywalls
In a similar line, quite a few publications have successfully implemented gated access to their content through different types of paywalls. For example, The New York Times has pioneered the metered paywall. This method allows readers to access a certain number of articles per month for free before being asked to pay for a subscription. The Times recently announced that they had passed the one million paid digital-only subscriber mark, showing that this avenue has worked tremendously well for them. Other publications such as The Telegraph have also implemented a metered paywall system, while the Financial Times has moved from metered access towards charging for a majority of its content. Regardless of how the paywall is set up, charging for access will obviously reduce the dependence and need for a plethora of annoying ads, improving user experience.
Event hosting
In addition to changing the way content is presented, some publishers are also looking at alternate revenue sources because, as Wouter Verschelden (publisher of Belgium’s Newsmonkey) says, “90% of revenues coming from display is not a sustainable model.” Generating revenue from multiple streams was a conversation we followed closely at this year’s ONA conference as well. In particular, The Texas Tribune’s CEO, Evan’s Smith, discussed how their publication was able to monetize their journalistic efforts in his talk, “The Revenue Review: Memberships, Advertising and Events.” He attributed their success at generating revenue from events (the Tribune raises approximately $30 000 per event) to focusing on one area and becoming the trusted source of events in that field. This can be a great source for publications based on politics or news (as the Tribune is), where consumers are less understanding of native advertisements. We strongly suggest watching the full video of the livestream (co-hosted by Joy Robbins of Quartz and Mary Walter-Brown of Voice of San Diego) below:
Despite the recent ad blocking hype, a study by Nielsen indicates that audiences are still pretty trusting of ads. This suggests that people don’t block ads because they mistrust them, but because they find them intrusive and limiting. When even the IAB admits that it “lost track of the user experience,” it’s a good indication that a change in the existing ad model is required. But all’s not lost. As a recent poll by ad blocking app Crystal indicates, 71 per cent of ad block users would proactively whitelist a site optimized for performance. This means that most people are willing to meet publishers halfway, and it’s exciting to see publications responding.
How are you dealing with ad-blocking in your newsroom? Have you any unique responses in the industry? Let’s chat in the comments!
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