WASHINGTON, D.C., November 2, 2021 – The Coalition for Better Ads announced today that it has developed a Better Ads Standard for mobile apps to expand its efforts to improve the online ad experience for consumers. The ad experiences identified in the Standard are based on the Coalition's extensive research related to mobile apps, which involved more than 45,000 consumers in 7 countries.
Four types of ad experiences were least preferred by consumers and beneath the Better Ads Standard for mobile in-app environments:
- Interruptive Interstitials
- Interruptive Video Interstitial
- Non-Skippable Interruptive Video Interstitials
- Video Interstitials When Opening an App
The Coalition's research found strong alignment of consumer preferences across countries and regions for the most- and least-preferred mobile app ad experiences, supporting the adoption of a single Better Ads Standard globally. The Coalition's Better Ads Standards identify the ad experiences that fall beneath a threshold of consumer acceptability and are most likely to drive consumers to install ad blockers. More than 150,000 consumers have participated to date in the Coalition's research to develop its set of Better Ads Standards.
"The Better Ads Standard for mobile apps provides clear guidance for developers and publishers who wish to reflect consumer preferences in their in-app advertising experiences," said Neal Thurman, director of the Coalition for Better Ads. "This new Standard complements the Coalition's Better Ads Standards for desktop and mobile web and short-form video that have been widely adopted by industry participants globally to improve the consumer experience with online advertising."
Members of the Coalition for Better Ads have incorporated the Better Ads Standards into industry certification programs and recommendations for best practices for online advertising.
The Coalition and its members will continue to engage with trade associations and companies worldwide to educate the industry about the Better Ads Standards and encourage their widespread adoption, including through webinars and other outreach in the coming months. The Coalition plans additional consumer research of different ad experiences and environments, including launching new research on in-feed environments next year.
The Coalition's Better Ads Experience Program certifies publishers and ad experience vendors that voluntarily comply with the Better Ads Standards. The Program's online register of certified companies helps advertising partners identify entities that apply the Standards. The Coalition welcomes participation from additional publishers, ad experience vendors, and app developers who meet the Program's requirements. The Program includes an independent dispute resolution mechanism developed by the Advertising Self-Regulatory Council in consultation with the International Council for Advertising Self-Regulation. The Program, through its implementation entities, will assess compliance with the Better Ads Standard for mobile app environments no earlier than March 2, 2022.
More information is available at www.betterads.org/standards.
About the Coalition for Better Ads
Leading international trade associations and companies involved in online media formed the Coalition for Better Ads to improve consumers' experience with online advertising. The Coalition has conducted extensive consumer research to develop Better Ads Standards to help the online ad industry address consumer preferences. The Coalition's members include leading global advertisers, advertising agencies, publishers, and technology companies. An additional 80 trade associations from around the world are affiliates of the Coalition for Better Ads. Companies and trade associations that wish to join the Coalition can learn more at www.betterads.org.