Ad-Blocking Games: Monetizing Online Content Under the Threat of Ad Avoidance

Abstract

Much of the Internet economy relies on online advertising for monetizing digital content: Users are expected to accept the presence of online advertisements in exchange for content being free. However, online advertisements have become a serious problem for many Internet users: while some are merely annoyed by the incessant display of distracting ads cluttering Web pages, others are highly concerned about the privacy implications-as ad providers typically track users' behavior for ad targeting purposes. Similarly, security problems related to technologies and practices employed for online advertisement have frustrated many users. Consequently, a number of software solutions have emerged that block online ads from being downloaded and displayed on users' screens as they browse the Web. We focus on these advertisement avoidance technologies for online content and their economic ramifications for the monetization of websites. More specifically, our work addresses the interplay between users' attempts to avoid commercial messages and content providers' design of countermeasures. Our investigation is substantiated by the development of a game-theoretic model that serves as a framework usable by content providers to ponder their options to mitigate the consequences of ad avoidance techniques. We complement our analytical approach with simulation results, addressing different assumptions about user heterogeneity.

To use or not to use ad blockers? The roles of knowledge of ad blockers and attitude toward online advertising

“…The growing loss of ad impressions is progressively undermining ad-financed websites' capacity to monetize the provided content. A game-theoretic approach suggests that these websites could compensate their ad revenue decreases by combining ad-financed and feefinanced monetization strategies (Vratonjic et al, 2013), but in practice fees represent only a small share of websites' revenues and are sustainable only for very distinctive content (Shiller et al, 2018). In turn, an empirical study shows how the spread of ad blockers challenges the business model of small/medium ad-supported websites: in the short run, these websites may increase their traffic because ad blocker spread makes it possible for more and more netizens to use the provided content without viewing ads; but in the long run, 3 increased losses of ad impressions may produce revenue reductions that undermine websites' investments in content quality to continue attracting netizens (Shiller et al, 2018).…”

Online advertising: Analysis of privacy threats and protection approaches

“…However, third party tracking is not only deployed through cookies, but also by means of social plug-ins that may also disclose user browsing information to social networks [41]. Mechanisms aimed at protecting users from privacy risks of online advertising commonly block thirdparty connections after classifying them as undesired [42].…”

“…Blocking: Blocking is also a very common, although usually radical, strategy of privacy protection in online advertising [42]. Typically, blocking tools inhibit most of the known tracking mechanisms (and thus of advertising) from the user side, or a third-party located on their network.…”

Publicidade Digital e Adblocking em Portugal – Apropriar ou Não Apropriar, eis a questão

“…O outro lado do debate é defendido por empresas que criam software de bloqueio de anúncios, bem como activistas de privacidade online, sendo que estes criticam o efeito dos anúncios na experiência do usuário, ainda que a maior preocupação gire em torno dos processos de rastreamento comportamental, uma prática usada por muitas empresas de publicidade para apreender os interesses dos utilizadores com base na sua actividade online. Neste sentido, a questão da privacidade deve ser um factor a ter em conta no que respeita aos próprios utilizadores, aliado às contrariedades práticas implicadas na experiência de navegação (Vratonjic, et al, 2013). Os anunciantes usam informações privadas dos utilizadores para fazer a correspondência entre estes e os anúncios considerados mais relevantes e que constem dos seus históricos de procura, algo que no entanto, refere Bhat (2015), não é perceptível a uma grande parte da população americana e que, por isso mesmo, acaba por não ter grande impacto nas decisões de utilização global das plataformas de adblocking.…”