That digital advertising is manifestly “bad” (in every sense) is an open secret in the advertising industry. That tired of being harassed by this type of advertising, Internet users have thrown themselves into the arms of “ad blockers” is another reality (very close to a nightmare) that advertisers have to deal with every day.
It is clear that digital advertising is in serious trouble and the hatred it provokes in consumers is stuck to it like glue (and is, therefore, terribly difficult to remove).
With the precise aim of combating this problem, three American associations (4 A's, ANA and IAB USA) presented a program a couple of weeks ago ( “Better Ad Experience Program” ) with a series of standards that online advertising (on a global level) should meet in order to finally get rid of its well-deserved bad reputation.
However, although positive on paper, the program presented by 4 A's, ANA and IAB USA (whose implementation these three associations demand from the coalition "Coalition for Ads"), has not pleased everyone.
This is the case of the German Association of Advertisers ( OWM ) and the tunisia phone number German Association for the Digital Economy ( BVDW ), who do not hide their concerns about the programme presented by their colleagues on the other side of the pond and propose an alternative plan.
According to OWM and BVDW, the “Coalition for Better Ads” ( established about a year ago to combat intrusive advertising formats on the Internet ) is a positive initiative that deserves their full support, because its aim is to increase the acceptance of often “insidious” online advertising.
However, the fact that this coalition has a centralised control unit (the Better Ad Experience Program) to decide what is valid and what is not in online advertising is "deeply problematic" in the eyes of the OWM and the BVDW.
This programme “would indirectly act as a gatekeeper for online advertising formats on a global level and would be responsible for monitoring and certifying the advertisements that make their way onto the network of networks,” argue the OWM and the BVDW. The problem? That the European advertising market (like other regional markets) has its own idiosyncrasies and cannot be controlled from the United States, stress the OWM and the BVDW.
“A purely American approach to developing global solutions to tackle the problems of online advertising is by no means the right approach. The different regions in Europe have many cultural differences and therefore their perception and attitude towards online advertising are also different. It is vital that these differences are taken into account ,” explains Thomas Duhr, Vice President of the BVDW.
In order to improve online advertising and make it more acceptable to Internet users, OWM and BVDW are calling on the Coalition for Better Ads to form a unit that will focus on the specificities of the European online advertising market.
“We are all interested in rapid progress in the Coalition for Better Ads, but the current plans threaten to destroy the coalition . There cannot be a gatekeeper who centralises all control – even with the best of intentions – because this hegemony could later be used to the detriment of other players. It is important that there is a common goal for all parties involved,” stresses Tina Beuchler, President of the OWM.