Netflix’s recent ad campaign has jumped in the middle of a seemingly never-ending cat and mouse game between online advertisers and ad blockers. The targeted ads are showing up on tech centric sites and displaying the advertising specifically to those that are trying to avoid it.
One advertisement uncovered by mashable reads “You cannot see the ad. But the ad can see you”. The tagline is for a newly picked up show by Netflix called Black Mirror. The premise of the show is to explore the darker side of technology breakthroughs in the same ominous tone as in the Twilight Zone.
“It’s not clear whether these ads were placed through a network, individual contracts or through AdBlock Plus’ new program.” reports mashable.
A recent study found that 83% of users are forced to turn to ad blockers because online ads have gotten “obnoxious” or negatively impact the user experience. The study goes on to state “77 per cent of users want to filter, rather than block, ads”.
These statistics should be a wake up call to advertising networks for them to dial back the annoying ads and instead focus on delivering meaningful and valuable ads to users.
