Do you have a strategy? Adblockers or low income?

We've been talking about the problem, what about solutions?

[explorador]

First I'm not so sure about adblockers are 100% the exact or only reason for low income. We've been having this for years [u]on a trend[/u]. Sometimes the same daily traffic can bring terrible income and other days decent, or good. Still the trend is to lower and lower bits. We've been having terrible ads for quite a while. In the past you could search, find and read read articles about adsense but not quite like today, a HUGE amount of articles now include a complain "terrible ads of adsense" or just becoming a nonsense, so I suggest we keep that in mind.

Adsense related stuff

Waiting for them to fix it. Well, not to be mistaken with a complain instead of a contribution but, since when G or Adsense has done something to help-you? If waiting for them to do something is an alternative, I suggest we grab a chair, a nice book and some coffee for the long wait (and a blanket).

Server side options. We can find a way on serving adsense via server side but it's a long way ahead, specially about the TOS, and the need for such option given by them with their blessing perhaps as an extra program. I wouldn't mind, specially if you can only apply to it IF you have at least X amount of impressions per day or unique visitors per day.

Your own ad server. Sure this is outside the Adsense area but it's still an option, something that SHOWS UP not after replacing or shutting down your adsense account, it could be there when adsense doesn't shows up. Been making numbers and it's a huge amount of impressions what's being wasted.

I'm not trying to break away from the discussion of adblockers, it's about thinking outside of it too (too, not instead and not just along, with-it). Yes, the market challenges are something outside our hands, but suddenly I'm seeing branches of this forum in a different way, wasn't this a place where we can discuss how to make things happen? and go after it? since when we depend only on what others fix for us? I'm not seeing G doing anything in the short future about it, never did.

I'm seeing new potential to my traffic around articles and pictures, it's not just about ads.

[IanCP]

Here's another main stream article

Peace app creator pulls top ad blocker because its success 'doesn't feel good'

Tumblr co-founder Marco Arment said benefits of removing ads for iPhone iOS 9 users does not outweigh possible damage to content that depends on revenue

"The maker of Peace, a bestselling ad blocker for iPhones, has pulled the app just days after its launch saying the app’s success “just doesn’t feel good”.

Marco Arment, co-founder of Tumblr and creator of the Instapaper reading app, launched Peace on 16 September. The $2.99 app became the bestselling app in Apple’s iTunes store almost overnight.

Peace takes advantage of iOS 9, Apple’s newly updated mobile software, to filter out mobile ads and tracking on other apps and websites. Mobile advertising is the fastest growing sector of the ad business and seen by most publishers as vital to their future finances..."

[theguardian.com ]

No I don't have a smartphone/mobile so I have no personal opinion. I only have a cheap dumb mobile which makes and receives phone calls, and sends/receives text only SMS messages. Does all I want. Oh, and it has an FM Radio I sometimes use..

[explorador]

Interesting about peace adblocker, just read a bit somewhere else but directly quoting theguardian:

Critics were quick to highlight that Arment was profiting from an app that blocked others from making money on mobile.

On the other side, while ads are fine and I agree with it, ad slots became a huge vulnerability hole on user experience, speed, etc, the user could be easily annoyed by irresponsible publishers. But again, on another side the publishers might be responsible and still loose control as there is no way to control this unless you are the coder of your own ad platform and designer of the ads (and reviewer etc). So, this was the previous paragraph:

Ad and tracker abuse is an even bigger issue on mobile than on a desktop, he said, where ads are much larger and harder to dismiss, trackers are harder to detect and they slow down page loads, drain battery power and waste cellular data. They are also “increasingly used as vectors for malware, exploits and fraud”.

add in subtitles constant cookie data access, data consumption and delays on some functions like region detection, etc.

What I find (constantly) confusing is the nonsense post that appear from time to time but have no value, no specifics, no data, just "I'm doing amazing you are doing it wrong yada yada". Then, nowhere to be found. I've seen some pretty confusing comments talking about having like 3,000 pages, a large farm of sites, pure original content, etc. Then it shouldn't be too difficult to launch their own ad service on your own network huh? no intermediaries, no adsense. Ohhhhhh I guess G is still paying you big bucks, well the time is around the corner then for that to end.

[explorador]

I wish (and perhaps "need") to add something that I've been seeing around, the talk of the "free web". There is no such thing, but services and products became difficult to sell. That doesn't mean (really let's be clear) it's easy to say "oh change your market, period".

I can remember one site where I was selling pictures, quality, original, tons of it (mine) and people wrote constantly asking prices and permission for use on books, magazines, etc. It was good and my work was good enough to keep selling. Then flicker and other free services made very easy to post (not sell) big pictures. A lot of people said -why buying then- and sales got hit, me and others and while many avoided talking specifics I know some on this forum were there. The problem is many were downloading the pics for commercial and personal use. The owners were not giving them away! but many believed and still believe: "it's free" and while wrong and while I saw some legal cases... people never changed their mind back to where they were, the reaction is: if you don't want it taken away don't post it online. And that state of mind is not ok, and it's all I have to say about the free web. Some of us put things for free on the web for whatever reasons, but that doesn't mean people can feel they have some ownership and take whatever for free.

[Montresor]

Do you ever feel a like a "working girl" who works hard for her money and then her "man" takes away most of it?

My strategy was to join the advertisers and sell things, join the pimps like Google and the affiliates and make money off your content. Maybe it's time to get off your backs, stop thinking like a working girl and set your inner mack daddy loose.

[netmeg]

Do you ever feel a like a "working girl" who works hard for her money and then her "man" takes away most of it?

No. And not terribly fond of the analogy, either.

[Leosghost]

If your strategy was to join the advertisers, in view of the rise of adblockers, you might want to rethink your strategy..there is a block ahead and a storm is breaking...
cue ..stones :) Decca SKL. 5025-A1

Boogie..:)

[diberry]

AdBlockers are definitely not the entire reason, or maybe even the main reason, why ad revenues are falling. Big news blogs like Huffington Post have, in the past few years, have stuffed their sites to overflowing with intrusive ads and thus poured billions of potential ad slots into the market, making it an advertiser's market. If you don't monetize in any other way, start now.

That said, in time, the ad blockers will become more refined. Average people have no difficulty comprehending that websites they read for free have to sell ads. More and more people understand what affiliate links are, and are happy to click them to support sites they love. When sites ask people who use ad lockers to stop and support them, most whitelist those sites.

But the ads MUST improve. So many of them are more intrusive than popups ever were. They caused the page to reload while you're reading it. They block content and can't be moved. And, while only a small percentage of users realize it, they data mine you to pieces and occasionally serve you malware just from being loaded into your browser or clicked.

Sites deserve to make money selling ads, but users deserve ads that don't compromise their experience of the site - or worse, their entire computer. If ad networks and publishers can promise decent ads, users will unblock them - or the ad blockers will move to a more middle-of-the-road approach, blocking only ads that fit a certain criteria.

As for claims that Google is doing nothing about this, I disagree. Flash and flash ads are a top source of drive-by malware, and in blocking Flash in Chrome, Google is helping to ensure their ad network won't serve people malware. But it doesn't stop there. I work mainly with ad networks other than Google, and it was amusing to watch: most of them and their advertisers did nothing, as the Sep. 1 deadline loomed, perhaps underestimating the impact Google's announcement would have. Then their ad impressions dropped drastically as Chrome rolled out its changes, and they scrambled to replace Flash-based creatives. Getting Flash out of advertising is a big step toward making ads safer for surfers, and that's important if anyone hopes to convince people to turn off the ad blockers or whitelist individual sites.

[Leosghost]

No. And not terribly fond of the analogy, either.

Agreed netmeg.."tacky" and "distasteful" would be being way too kind a description..:)

cue.. Eurythmics and Aretha..:)

[Leosghost]

Google are only blocking flash ads in Chrome..( in the hope that we'll all switch to chrome..and be data mined by Google even more than now ) if they really wanted to help..they'd not accept any flash ads in their networks..then using any browser, on any OS would be safer..

Sites deserve to make money selling ads, but users deserve ads that don't compromise their experience of the site - or worse, their entire computer.

Would be better as ..

Sites should be able to make money selling ads, but users should be able to see ads that don't compromise their experience of the site - or worse, their entire computer.

"deserve" ..being too close to "entitlement"..none of us "deserve" anything..

[tangor]

Curious, after all these comments, the initial OP has not actually been addressed, rather, more commentary about adblockers and those who use them against the "publisher".

Adblocking has many reasons to exist. Advertising also has one reason to exist that most will grant. But few in the real world will allow to become abusive and intrusive, or worse, an avenue for malware (malvertising).

The above, being the general premise of What Is Happening, the OP asked What Are You Doing About It? as a future revenue stream.

Not too many answers shared.

At present adblockers are 25-29% of the web ALL GEO LOCATIONS. Next month might be 10% higher (after all this news) and two months from now even higher as some security firms, et al. decide to incorporate same into their VIRUS SCANNERS (and don't think that won't happen). We are in a flash point moment, so to speak. So...

Options are?

Ignore adblockers and go with the present.

Find alternates which can live in that adblocker future (server side, direct)

Or drop ads and go branding and sales of products (assuming site was for that purpose in the first place)

Or...

And that hanging Or... is where we next need to chat.

Otherwise we're flogging a dead horse and that pony don't run no more.

[Leosghost]

Curious, after all these comments, the initial OP has not actually been addressed, rather, more commentary about adblockers and those who use them against the "publisher".

Damn ..and I thought I'd proposed strategies there in the first reply to the OP..;)
[webmasterworld.com...]

Of course ..our main revenue source is selling our own designed and manufactured luxury products..and some highly specialised services..but I don't think many of those who are going to be affected by adblockers are likely ( or will be able ) to convert to those kind of primary revenue models..

The other sites that we run ads on..will continue, without blocking those who use adblockers..

I could block them..but why do to my visitors what would annoy me if it happened to me..

[edited by: Leosghost at 2:31 pm (utc) on Sep 19, 2015]

[tangor]

You are absolutely correct, leosghost! My bad for being drain bead after all these "adblocker" threads.

Time to take a shower and then a nap. :)

[Broadway]

Tangor's first post in this thread I think suggests this...

a system where I placed direct ads on my website, however instead of negotiating the deal directly with the advertiser, I select and choose what ads to place through a broker's website who has negotiated and will monitor the deal.

not terribly unlike Adsense, except that the way the ads are served on each site are somewhat unique, and therefore less prone to the problems of adblockers.

[explorador]

Leosghost: "deserve" ..being too close to "entitlement"..none of us "deserve" anything..

I've been getting the same idea from many posts, as if people should provide the income just... because. I guess many do believe seriously on the "build it and they/it will come" and if not the system is failing

tangor, again you hit the nail, that's exactly the point: what's in our hands, what can each person do. In my case I see potential on direct ad selling, been approached in the past and said no because G was paying good, also because I did some research and some offers/paid stuff was considered negative by G (oh the paid links dilema) and we are not talking smoke about this, it's real. But I also thought "oh, so if I don't always agree with G I'm punished?". Adsense is not paying that well anymore and the traffic is higher, so, those offers sound better on my ears now.

I'm busy right now but looking forward on my own ad serving platform, one that can change footprints easily month to month (see?!), it's easy to think this way when we analyze the ads, the context, adblockers, etc but mostly the way adblockers work. I'm busy, can't address this as fast as I would like to, specially about reports: geo location. Not all the free ways are fast, been playing with this and some involve delays just to detect countries, sure are paid solutions, that's something else we need to look at.

It's not war, it's just not good to depend always and purely on G for reports, damn... many clients ask for stats reports only in GAnalytics way. Another thing to address later.

oh just what did I say? there is market space for adserving self-mutating solutions that change so adblockers can't work every day. See? ok the source of the ads, who, etc it's another matter.


Your own ad servig thing, tied to how Adblocking works: (please don't make this a war on deep specifics) I'm not here to cook the dinner for everyone

- ip detection (easy to solve, really)
- word detection, span, classes
- server names (just like ip detection)
- name of the scripts (easy to solve)
- big queries and parameters on the urls (again easy to solve)

Some of the things easy to solve require rotation or mutation. And sure, server side integration not relying on external scripts inserted on the page. Mmm do I smell redirections? If I was designing an adblocker I would keep a look on anything that takes me out of the current domain.

Things don't look that bad around here, really, it just needs work, it's the delivery what's been affected mostly. Ad source? who? it's been affected for quite a while already, not to say ad quality.

[explorador]

Don't want to sound rude or harsh with this, in fact sounds good to my own ears: this whole situation will divide true webmasters/coders from MFA's owners. Some people produced quality stuff and paid someone to build their websites, that's another matter and sure they will have to find solutions, webmasters/coders who do many things will have it easier (if they put work on it).

[Leosghost]

Don't want to sound rude or harsh with this, in fact sounds good to my own ears: this whole situation will divide true webmasters/coders from MFA's owners. Some people produced quality stuff and paid someone to build their websites, that's another matter and sure they will have to find solutions, webmasters/coders who do many things will have it easier (if they put work on it).

This..Yes..Agree 100%...:)
I was taught to code my first website by a very good friend back in the 90s, he made sure that I understood what I was doing and why it worked ( I already knew FORTRAN and COBOL from learning to design with them in the early 70s ) ..since then I've built every site myself, learning as I went, paid someone a couple of years ago for a very complex script that I didn't know at the time how to code, was able to learn from it how it worked, and to do similar myself if I need, I enjoy the learning ..even if it does sometimes involve waking in the night with the answer to a code problem solved in my dreams ..apparently a "common experience" with coders ;) ..I'm still am long long way from being a pro coder like explorador or many others here ..

But I like the control of being able to do it all myself now..

I find the "how could I code this" part of webmastering to be the most interesting part..

I agree with all of explorador's post at #4768485..I know that some people who have quality sites genuinely did not have the time to pick up coding , even to a basic level, but so many who did have the time, did not bother, because the adsense checks landed anyway, templates are cheap, wordpress is simple to install..and in the case of some, content was readily scraped from other websites, and images and text content just copied, and adsense ( or other 3rd party ad serving code ) added around the plundered work of others..

Those who don't know how to code a way out of the rise of adblockers, and who are not willing to pay, because they were never in it for the long term, and or never made sites that about things that they were actually interested in ,( some I know did make their sites about things that they were interested in, where the revenue from ads was secondary to their interest in the subject, they have my sympathies, and I know that they will survive :) but others only made sites that would never have seen the light of day were it not for ads..

They, the MFAs, will wither and die..I hope..Had they spent some time learning how to code "solutions" rather than watching their adsense stats all day..they would not be panicking now..and not being so aggressively hostile to those of us who see the adblockers as a breath of fresh air, and a way to get the ad agencies back to thinking of the advertiser, the user, and not merely how much money could they make for being middle men..

[netmeg]

this whole situation will divide true webmasters/coders from MFA's owners.

With nothing in between? Wow, patronizing much? Unless you know how to code, you're an MFA? Unless you can code you're not a legit publisher?

I'm out of this thread, before I say something that will get me thrown off WebmasterWorld. But I'm thinking it - HARD.

[Leosghost]

I don't think that either of us was including you netmeg..I know for sure I wasn't..

This

I know that some people who have quality sites genuinely did not have the time to pick up coding

You can't have the time running adwords campaigns etc and have a family and or private life etc and the time to learn coding as well
and this

( some I know did make their sites about things that they were interested in, where the revenue from ads was secondary to their interest in the subject, they have my sympathies, and I know that they will survive :)

were specifically typed with you in mind..and the :) was for you..thought you'd pick up on all that..my apologies..no slight was intended to you ..
Hard to find anyone with a more professional attitude than yourself to webmastering..

[EditorialGuy]

I know that some people who have quality sites genuinely did not have the time to pick up coding

Or maybe they did, but they've found more productive ways to spend their time. (I doubt if the editors of The New York Times or The Guardian spend much time down in the pressroom.)

[explorador]

netmeg: With nothing in between? Wow, patronizing much? Unless you know how to code, you're an MFA? Unless you can code you're not a legit publisher?

I'm out of this thread, before I say something that will get me thrown off WebmasterWorld. But I'm thinking it - HARD.

All the contrary, if you feel comfortable I invite you to discuss the matter (see? invite you, not saying what you should do). Stop thinking things that we don't mean, really, misunderstandings can be made clear, I say it in a good mood. I don't know why your words sound like you are taking offense or upset and taking extreme angles. I don't feel comfortable in this kind of situations saying "what I mean is", but in case others might get the same interpretation then it's fair to do it, agree?:

What I mean is things changed, adsense changed, the ad serving has limitations now (adblockers). While things changed we all have to adapt, be it a writer, a coder, an advertising company etc. Things will not improve for us if we sit and wait, that's why the thread to invite others to ask themselves what are they doing (not to tell me, but to invite them to wonder). Webmasters/coders have it better here because getting around adblockers require some and many of those skills. A writer hiring someone sure will need to talk about it.

A webmaster coder sure with no doubt, if such person sees the obstacles can put hands to work after dinner. If the webmaster/coder (like me and many others around here) also writes (and has taken years of effort to get better at it (in own language), also studied matters to write unique content, etc. Well that person became a team: coder/webmaster/writer/editor/designer and it's well equipped to confront challenges. Others who are writers and can't code will have to talk to their team and if there is no team, hire someone.

I think I now see why you reacted that way, my words seem to imply only two positions: webmasters/coders and MFA. Well not, there are webmaster/coders who build MFA's!. I remember by many posts of yours, you are not a coder, and perhaps my words make you think I put you on the other side. I'm clear you are a clever and agile strategist, I don't associate you with MFAs, so relax.

I've been watching many changes around me that affects me and others. Being a one man band most of my limitations are seeing the problem and having time to approach it (I'm talking technical stuff, I'm not a very good designer). But I'm seeing people around me having problems adapting to the changes. A friend of mine is a very good photographer but I'm helping her (for free) with this because she doesn't code (she doesn't like to, don't have time and mostly: she shouldn't, it's a personal choice). But this doesn't mean she builds MFA's, she builds original stuff. What I do mean is people who build MFA will have a hard time adapting to such changes. NOT THAT THEY ARE THE SAME, but people who only do one thing will also have a hard time, but both are very diff persons. Hope to explain myself well to avoid misunderstandings. Some people don't have the interest or time to code, that's fine, some can pay someone, that's cool too, but I'm seeing a lot of people from a while ago on this forum complaining and expecting G to fix things, someone else and don't see the space where we can do something about it, so I invite people to think, just that.

[trebuchet]

I'm out of this thread, before I say something that will get me thrown off WebmasterWorld. But I'm thinking it - HARD.

I'm afraid it's typical of some assumptions made in these adblocking threads. If you create content you're not a webmaster. If you can't code your site is MFA. If you can't code you can't/won't adapt to adblocking. That kind of thinking is simplistic and a little arrogant. There's numerous ways to skin the cat in this game and we all bring our own mix of skills to the table. And in my case when something requires coding skills I don't have, I pay a dev, as I believe netmeg does. There's no shame in that, just as there's no shame in web bods who can't string two words together hiring copywriters.

[toidi]

this whole situation will divide true webmasters/coders from MFA's owners

and all this time i thought MFA sites were the realm of coders