The Coalition for Better Ads continues to work with its global membership to improve the online ad experience for consumers. In recent months, we have expanded the reach of our Better Ads Standards to new environments. We continue to partner with our members to encourage adoption of the Standards throughout the supply chain and to develop new ways to realize their benefits. Below is an update on several important initiatives.
Better Ads Standard for Mobile Apps Takes Effect – Our newest Standard, for mobile apps, took effect in March 2022. The Standard is based on the Coalition’s extensive consumer research, which involved 45,000 consumers in 7 countries and identified ad formats that are most disruptive and annoying to consumers. The Coalition published the Standard in October 2021 and has worked to educate industry participants on its scope and underlying consumer research.
Four types of ad experiences were least preferred by consumers and beneath the Better Ads Standard for mobile app environments:
- Interruptive Interstitials
- Interruptive Video Interstitials
- Non-Skippable Interruptive Video Interstitials
- Video Interstitials When Opening an App
The new Standard has been welcomed and adopted by industry leaders. App experiences submitted by AdColony, Kargo, Mediavine, and Ogury, participants in our Better Ads Experience Program, have been reviewed and certified as compliant with the full range of Better Ads Standards, including the new mobile app Standard. IAB Europe’s Guide to In-App Advertising highlighted the Coalition’s research and the Better Ad Standard. We would love to learn more about how your company is implementing the mobile app Standard and encourage you to share your experience. If your company has adopted the Better Ads Standards and is interested in joining the Better Ads Experience Program, please reach out for more information.
Next Up: Continued Expansion of Better Ads Standards to Additional Environments - The Coalition has convened a working group to examine the best way to expand Better Ads Standards to the in-feed environment. The working group is focused on clarifying the definition of an in-feed environment, including differentiating the environment from those covered by existing Better Ads Standards. We welcome participation from additional Coalition members.
Publisher Seal Program – The Coalition is developing a new initiative to allow publishers participating in the Better Ads Experience Program to highlight their adherence to the Better Ads Standards. The Coalition conducted a pilot program with Admiral, the Visitor Relationship Management platform, to test messages targeted at ad blocker users to highlight adherence to the Better Ads Standards and ask these users to disable the adblocker on the publisher’s site. The research found that participating publishers experience revenue recovery rate improvements as high as 64%. We plan to share more details on program participation in the coming months.
This year promises to be another year of progress in improving the online ad experience for consumers. The Coalition’s members are leading the online ad industry in this important work and are focused on innovation and the expansion of Better Ads Standards that benefit consumers and the industry.
