Dive Brief:
- Mobile ad blocking software firm Shine is taking an innovative approach to the technology by hiring its first Chief Revenue Officer, who will be tasked with reaching out to the digital publishing world, according to Adweek.
- Newly-hired CRO James Collier is also tasked with rolling out a new feature that allows brands to pay Shine to guarantee their ads will be seen on sites and apps that don't have ad fraud.
- Shine’s tech blocks ad early in the process at the network carrier level, with Shine users having to opt-in to see ads.
Dive Insight:
The concept of transparency is important in digital marketing. Allowing end users to opt-in to receiving advertising is exactly what could help combat the ongoing increase in ad block adoption. Research by the IAB UK found that close to 80% of respondents accept that there is a tradeoff of advertising for free content, but at the same time those people also wanted some measure of control over the experience, with 58% wanting a clear “x” or “skip ad” option on digital ads.
Shine hopes its mobile ad block solution can find the happy middle ground between users frustrated with poor and even fraudulent advertising and agencies, publishers, and advertisers frustrated by the surge of ad blocking.
"My intention is to build a technology product, which will create policies that support consumers and the carriers and also create a trusted and safe environment for the advertisers to invest in," Collier told Adweek. "The reduction in fraudulent activity will have a net-positive result in the effective CPMs in the marketplace, but we'll also be able to add insight to those buys that currently doesn't exist outside of a probabilistic view."