Internet users can expect to see changes in the way advertisements are served to them after Facebook’s attempt to ban news sites drove a massive consumer backlash.

The social media giant abruptly banned Australian users from accessing or sharing news content through its platform on February 18, in response to Parliament’s proposed media bargaining code.

The move was quickly met with backlash from politicians and consumers alike, with Treasurer Josh Frydenberg decrying Facebook’s ‘heavy-handed’ tactics, as ‘#DeleteFacebook’ lit up Twitter and Google.

Facebook promptly reversed its stance on February 23, saying it was satisfied with a number of changes made to the code by the government.

But Martin Filz, CEO of data analytics firm Pureprofile, cautioned further pain could befall the company as advertisers look to shift their advertising spend away from the increasingly controversial channel.

Speaking to Reach Markets, Mr Filz noted that Facebook and Google currently account for 73% of all money spent on digital advertising in Australia.

But the tremendous backlash against Facebook’s news ban and Google’s previous threats to block search in Australia demonstrate these global tech giants are losing the confidence of consumers.

“In really quick succession, you’ve gone from a position of dominance to a movement against those big tech companies by consumers,” he said.

 

“If Facebook and Google no longer have the confidence of the consumer, it means that [advertising spend] will move to other publishers.”

Join Pureprofile’s CEO Martin Filz next Wednesday 3rd March in ‘The Insider: Meet the CEOs’ where he’ll discuss the company’s plans for the future, the surge in demand for data analytics and how Pureprofile’s platform is positioned to meet that demand. Click here to book your spot.

How the ads you see could change

This loss of confidence is most likely to affect programmatic advertising – where software is used to automate the ad buying and selling process and target consumers.

These are the ads which appear on websites you visit, serving you products you previously searched for on Google or ‘like’ on Facebook.

This type of advertising accounts for 69.2% of global advertising display spending but Mr Filz said advertisers “are starting to question that” due to a number of problems in the way it targets consumers and serves ads to them.

One study even found programmatic ads designed to target specific genders were only accurate 42% of the time; less than the natural 50/50 gender split within the population.

This means programmatic ads targeting one gender will be less successful than a ‘spray-and-pray’ approach, despite the added cost.

This is compounded by a looming ban on third-party cookie data sharing through Google, adding further challenges to marketers and advertisers

Between changing privacy policies, questionable success rates and a growing backlash to big tech, Mr Filz said advertisers and media publishers now want to get closer to consumers themselves and develop their own insights.

“That means consumers get relevant content and relevant ads, and if they get relevant content they’re going to like that publisher more and come back more often,” he said.

“If I get the right ad, I’m going to click that ad and I’m going to buy something and my advertising community is happy and they’re going to come back more often with more deals and more products.”

As a result, more advertisers want to use their own first party data to make advertising decisions, and utilise artificial intelligence or additional data points not present in third party data sets to deliver better programmatic ads.

Pureprofile positioned to fill in the gaps

Pureprofile collects first party declared data through its own platform, meaning consumers willingly provide insights as requested.

And Mr Filz says this is the kind of data advertisers want right now, as it addresses concerns around privacy and accuracy, while also providing valuable insights into who consumers are and what they are interested in.

“Technology is really going to start delivering insights, and if so a brand will have insights to deliver an ad or a piece of content,” he said.

Join Pureprofile’s CEO Martin Filz next Wednesday 3rd March in ‘The Insider: Meet the CEOs’ where he’ll discuss the company’s plans for the future, the surge in demand for data analytics and how Pureprofile’s platform is positioned to meet that demand. Click here to book your spot.

If you would like to stay updated on Pureprofile news and updates, please register your interest on their Investor Centre.

Reach Markets have been engaged by PPL to help manage their investor communications. 

Sources:

• Facebook to reverse news ban on Australian sites, government to make amendments to media bargaining code
• Facebook restricts Australian audiences, publishers from sharing, viewing news
• ‘Arrogant’ and ‘wrong’: Australia slams Facebook’s move to block news as unnecessary and heavy-handed
• Google, Facebook and YouTube found to make up more than 80% of Australian digital advertising
• Google to ‘phase out’ third-party cookies in Chrome, but not for two years
• Facebook faces a global backlash over its bid to ‘bully’ Australia
• Getdailytrends.com #DeleteFacebook Worldwide
• Getdailytrends.com #deletefacebook
• A timeline of Facebook’s privacy issues — and its responses
• The 11 biggest scandals Mark Zuckerberg faced over the last decade as he became one of the world’s most powerful people
• Google, Facebook and YouTube found to make up more than 80% of Australian digital advertising
• What is Programmatic Advertising
• Good Questions, Real Answers: How Does Facebook Use Machine Learning to Deliver Ads?
• How Accurate Is Programmatic Ad Targeting?
• Pureprofile: About us
• DECLARED DATA Email Marketing’s New BFF
• A Basic Definition of First Party, Second Party, & Third Party Data