We’ve all seen the stats. Ad blocking is on the rise, remaining a constant talking point for 2017.
As a technology company, we’re in a great position to do something about it. In 2016 we released a new Tech platform. The focus was to slash our ad weight and become one of the internet’s lightest, scalable advertising providers. Yep, we went on a diet!
We reduced the ad weight for our In-Text, In-Image, out-of-stream video and high impact native ad formats by over 75% to just 30.5 kb.
However, we haven’t stopped there. We’ve been on a sustained diet plan. As well as improving consumers’ experience of digital advertising by loading faster on the pages of premium editorial, we have been a big champion of the Internet Advertising Bureau’s (IAB’s) industry-wide LEAN initiative to tackle the rise in ad blocking.
LEAN stands for “Light”, “Encrypted”, “Ad Choice Supported” and “Non-Invasive”. The new LEAN standard was launched by the IAB’s Tech Lab in October 2015. Maintaining our reputation for innovation, early adoption of best practice and industry leadership, we are proud to be one of the first companies to offer LEAN compliant ad technology.
What makes us LEAN?
LIGHT – Comparing like-for-like formats, Vibrant Media’s ad weight is lighter than all its leading competitors. The in-text ad formats provided by Vibrant Media’s closest competitor are 480 per cent heavier than Vibrant Media’s. The industry’s most popular out-of-stream video ads are 390 per cent heavier. Widely displayed rich media ads and in-image ads are 146 per cent and 125 per cent heavier respectively.
ENCRYPTED – All of the ads that we display are hosted on secure servers and are communicated through HTTPS connections from end-to-end. We also continuously scans brands’ ads for malware and other vulnerabilities.
AD CHOICE SUPPORTED – Consumer control and choice has always been at the heart of the digital marketing strategies our technology enables. We were an early adopter of the AdChoices industry self-regulation program which enables consumers to opt out of being served behaviourally targeted advertising. However, as the ads we serve are contextually-relevant to the editorial content they are displayed within, consumers still see digital ads that are keenly targeted to their interests, even if they have chosen not to share data on their interests.
NON-INVASIVE – Nimble, non-invasive native ads are our stock-in-trade. Triggers for our ads sit natively within publishers’ content as either green double-underlined hyperlinks within editorial text or nimble overlays at the bottom of editorial images. Hence they unobtrusively fit the form and function of the digital content they’re displayed within. Publishers control both the number of Vibrant Media’s native ads displayed within content and the frequency with which each brands’ advertisements are displayed to consumers. As the formats are user-initiated, consumers never have to see a brand’s ad unless they actively choose to by either tapping or hovering their mouse over one of the ad triggers.
So what holds up for the rest of 2017? Well a good diet was only the first step. Now we look to exercise and how we can push ourselves creatively. We’ve launched a new suite of immersive ad solutions including VR, AR and vertical video. These are designed to really engage audiences and offer a true value exchange. If consumers feel they are being presented with something more interactive than just a standard ad, then they’re a lot less likely to block it.
So here’s to the rest of 2017… a balanced diet and plenty of exercise!