Users of YouTube can already skip ads. Google is now adding the same capability to its Display Network as well, letting users hit an ‘X’ so as to discard or simply ‘mute’ any of the currently-displaying ads. The search engine giant states it will employ the signal as a way of delivering more relevant ads. Once a user opts to mutes a certain ad, one will no longer see it from that particular campaign.
The person gets a confirmation that will lead them to Ads Preferences manager, where he or she can further fine-tune the Google profile. The feedback this gives will also help Google improve its ads over time. The new feature is especially useful for those who are wary of retargeting and remarketing campaigns, feeling that certain ads tend to ‘follow’ them.
The change would appear to be rather benign in nature for advertisers, stopping their ads from being displayed to people not interested, and thus not sparking any further untoward brand associations owing to unwanted ad exposures. The feature is to be rolled out gradually. This capability for now is being made available by Google for ads that are based on remarketing/ interest categories.
As stated above, a small [x] will surface in the corner of certain display ads on the Display Network. If and when a user clicks it, he or she will not see ads from that particular campaign. The muting, Google states, is not a 100 percent guarantee that a user won’t ever see that ad – for instance, the same ad could perhaps be displayed by a different ad agency, or the marketer could even run a separate ad campaign to target specific web content. However, the company treats this as a first important step towards giving users more control over ads, whilst helping marketers and sites deliver better performing ads. Providing a further insight, an official blog post mentions:
“We are investing in many ways to give users control over the ads they see. We believe this early-look feature can bring benefits to the entire ecosystem: users have a way to control their experience and signal that they aren’t interested in certain ads; advertisers are no longer paying to show ads to people who aren’t interested; and publishers will receive better performing (and potentially more valuable) ads, and spend less time filtering out ads they think won’t be of interest to their audience.”
Online advertising underpins the web and supports millions of businesses. It’s already unique in the level of control it can offer users. We’re at the early stages of these innovations, with much more to come in months and years ahead.
On YouTube, the TrueView ad products enable people to avoid video ads. They can click a link ‘Why this Ad?’ On Google search so as to stop sites they are not interested in from targeting ads. On the other hand, Ads Preferences Manager on the AdChoices icon on the Google Display Network ads lets users edit their interest categories, or simply opt out of the interest based ads; these include remarketing ads on the Display Network.
Meanwhile, to give users greater control over display ads, the search engine has launched the new Flexible reach targeting setting on its Display Network tab. Google has recently introduced the new interface in AdWords aimed at making display buying more efficient and easier by combining targeting, bidding as well as optimizing in one place.
Soon the Networks & devices section of the Settings tab in AdWords will incorporate a new targeting option known as ‘Flexible reach’. It will enable people to fine-tune where their ads show by selecting the settings right at the ad group level rather than of the campaign level. The idea is to give them more control over where the ads appear and who gets to see them.
