Media buying giant GroupM is set to take a tougher stance against marketers resorting to ad-reinsertion to users who have installed ad-blockers, and make it a contractual requirement that they do not re-insert blocked ads. John Montgomery, chairman of GroupM, would rather “fix” the user experience before focusing on potential whitelisting. Currently, GroupM “strongly discourages” publishers from using vendors such as Sourcepoint or Secret Media to get around ad-blockers. The move comes after Google announced in May that it was going to start blocking ads for all sites with more than 100 million monthly visitors. Since January, Secret Media has gone from 15 publishers using its service to more than 500.
Media buying giant GroupM is set to take a tougher stance against marketers resorting to ad-reinsertion to users who have installed ad-blockers, and make it a contractual requirement that they do not re-insert blocked ads. John Montgomery, chairman of GroupM, would rather “fix” the user experience before focusing on potential whitelisting. Currently, GroupM “strongly discourages” publishers from using vendors such as Sourcepoint or Secret Media to get around ad-blockers. In May, almost 10% of desktop users in America had ad-blockers, a figure that rises to 16.5% in the 18-24 age group. Since January, Secret Media has gone from 15 publishers using its service to more than 500.