The proportion of consumers using ad blocking technology may average 22% globally, but Canada falls far short of that, based on data collected in a report from GroupM that questions the effectiveness of digital ad spending.
In Interaction 2016, the company suggests fraud, viewability and issues with proper measurement should cause marketers alarm, and calls for “an industry-wide collaboration” to address them.
“Ads stop working when they’re avoided and when the ecosystem allows fraud, or when strategies don’t follow the consumer to apps and commerce anywhere,” GroupM chief digital officer Rob Norman said in a statement. “The time is now to share in a profound sense of responsibility, transparency and vigilance to ensure the ongoing engagement of consumers with brand communications.”
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In its analysis of 45 countries, GroupM said only 16% of Canadian consumers were installing ad blockers. This compares to 32% of those living in Austria, or even 25% of those based in the United States. Only Spain, Latvia and Turkey trailed Canada in the percentage of estimated ad blocking users.
The GroupM data is startlingly close to the 17% of Canadian ad-blocking fans cited in a recent Globe and Mail article that references a study to be released by IAB Canada and comScore in May.
Other issues covered in the GroupM report include what the company calls “the integrity of digital supply,” a reference to fraud as more programmatic tools change the way ads are bought and sold. Overall, 37% of display ad investment was transacted programmatically last year, versus 21% the year before.
GroupM suggests marketers identify “trusted partners” and the “use of pre-bid controls in unknown markets” to reduce the risk of fraud.
Despite the challenges, GroupM makes it clear that digital advertising is here to stay, projecting a 3% increase in overall investment globally this year, or 31% of overall spending.
“The investments are aimed at reaching nearly 2.3 billion adults expected to use the Internet in the year, and increasingly executed programmatically,” the report said.
