Advertising has historically been integral to media. Dating back to the early days of print newspapers, and continuing the tradition with radio and later television, advertising has served as the foundation for providing valued content at little or no cost to consumers. Today, much like its forebears, online advertising fuels the growth of the Internet, subsidizing the cost of content and services that consumers value, enjoy, and have come to expect, and supporting the independent media. We recognize that there is room for improvement with the current consumer online advertising experience, as indicated in part by the emergence of ad blocking. As part of its work, the Coalition intends to address challenges posed by commercial ad blockers that could result in threatening the ad-supported Internet. As the Internet continues to develop, the consumer online advertising experience likewise must adapt to ensure that it responds to consumers’ evolving expectations.
In recognition of the need to improve the consumer online advertising experience, a coalition of leading international trade associations and companies in the online media ecosystem are convening the Coalition for Better Ads (“the Coalition”). These trade associations include American Association of Advertising Agencies (4A’s), Association of National Advertisers (ANA), BVDW Germany, Digital Content Next, DMA, European Publishers Council, IAB, IAB Europe, IAB Tech Lab, as well as additional national and regional IABs, Network Advertising Initiative (NAI), News Media Alliance, World Federation of Advertisers (WFA), and others. Initial participating companies include Facebook, Google, GroupM, Procter & Gamble, Unilever, and The Washington Post.
The Coalition is convening to evaluate and improve the consumer online advertising experience. Using consumer research and consumer views, the Coalition will work to learn about consumers’ evolving preferences regarding their online advertising experience and develop practices that are responsive to these preferences.
The Coalition will immediately:
- Create consumer-based, data-driven standards that participants in the advertising and media ecosystem can utilize that improve the consumer advertising experience. The standards will be developed with participation and input from across the multitude of geographies, stakeholders, and participants in the advertising ecosystem, including publishers, advertisers, agencies, and buy-side and sell-side technology providers. It is expected that the standards will continue to evolve with the online ecosystem and consumers’ evolving preferences.
- In conjunction with the IAB Tech Lab, develop and deploy technology to implement these standards.
- Encourage awareness of those standards and tools amongst consumers and businesses in order to ensure wide uptake and elicit feedback.