Dive Brief:
- Research from Adobe found that consumers in the UK have the most negative views of digital advertising worldwide, with 27% reporting digital ads have become worse over the last three years, compared to 22% in France, 20% in the U.S. and 18% for Germany, according to Marketing Week. UK consumers also topped the list on describing digital ads as "ineffective" at 54%.
- “The volume of advertising and opportunities to be targeted by a brand are higher in the UK than the US," Adobe Product Marketing Manager Julia Soffa told Marketing Week. "People in the UK see more ads and there are more touchpoints so they are more likely to be critical.”
- The report indicates that consumers are likely to be more responsive to digital ads that aren’t as intrusive. Soffa said there is room for marketers to get more creative with dynamic, relevant content driven by data, though she added mobile is in a "growing pain stage."
Dive Insight:
Adobe’s research points to a persistent group of consumers that are likely to install ad block software simply because they don’t like digital ads and see them as intrusive and ineffective.
A report from the IAB on UK consumers from July found that one way marketers can make digital advertising more palatable is to give consumers greater control through ads that are easy to exit, less bombardment of ads and less ads that are so data-heavy they bog down devices with slow loading times.
“Getting mobile ads right is a delicate balance,” Mike Reynolds, the IAB UK’s mobile and video manager, said in a statement at the time. “For instance, ads with higher impact can be more annoying, while relevant ads based on location or behavior are welcomed but may raise privacy concerns. With higher impact comes higher risk but the golden rules involve common sense – don’t hijack the user experience.”
As the Adobe report shows, that "delicate balance" hasn't been reached — perhaps not by a long shot — and hijacking is, at least in the opinion of UK consumers, still running rampant.