GroupM chief digital officer Danny Bass has argued any agency ban on autoplay video is “simplistic”, after UM boss Mat Baxter said yesterday his agency would boycott the autoplay policy of client News Limited.
Bass has argued it is not the role of the media agency to ban the purchase of pre-roll ads on autoplay video. “As long as everyone in the process is aware of the decision to buy autoplay ads, as long as the publisher is transparent, and the buyer made the decision based on the key metrics of the campaign and the client is fully aware of what autoplay is, then there's no problem.”
Bass was responding to comments made yesterday by Baxter, who has employed a ban on autoplay since 2011, when he publicly came out against the strategy and Fairfax's use of it.
Baxter's boycott was brought back into the spotlight yesterday because his newly acquired client News Limited has only this week revealed it will adopt autoplay across its key mastheads. Baxter said that his agency will continue to not buy autoplay, despite the fact News Limited is a client.
Bass went on to say: “To say you're going to pull all non-user initiated ads, I think it narrows down significantly what available inventory there is in the marketplace. Everyone knows there's not a lot, every owner in Australia will tell you they're sold out.
“The media owners aren't charities, they need to earn money. Fairfax and News have enormous overheads and costs. I don't blame them in switching autoplay on. They know the consequences, and they know the majority of people who go to those sites do not like autoplay. Fairfax have had this on for two or three years, and in that time their audience has gone up. People made the active decision to keep using Fairfax sites albeit with autoplay.
“From our perspective, the onus on the media owner is to be transparent on what type of media you are buying and to price it accordingly. You should pay a premium for genuine user initiated ads, and you shouldn't pay anywhere near as much for non-user initiated ads. As long as the owners are transparent and don't try to merge the two, then it is the buyer's responsibility to make sure they buy it for the right reasons. If a media owner thinks it should be the same or just slightly less CPM, then we wont buy.”
Bass also argued that television ads and radio ads are also “non user initiated” in a similar way to autoplay ads.
“The irony is, every ad on TV is non-user initiated. If you say ''We're not doing non-user initiated ads', does that apply to TV or radio or any other medium,” Bass said. “It's just that digital is still in its infancy and people aren't used to it.
“Baxter is talking about annoyance, and whether that annoyance transfers to the brand. It would be very hard to find people on a site that say they like autoplay. But would you be able to find a high percentage of people that say they like TV ads or radio ads or newspaper ads.”
Finally, Bass suggested “brand safety” is more important when considering placement of ads in the online video space, rather than autoplay.
“Fairfax and News Limited are a certain type of environment. So is an autoplay ad on Fairfax or News Limited worth more than a non-autoplay ad on a site out of India or China, because at least with News and Fairfax you know you have brand safety, you have a high level of reputable journalism.”
Baxter declined to make comment in response to Bass.
However, Baxter's arguments in the past have centred around the notion that consumers may negatively associate with a brand in the autoplay environment.
When Baxter first revealed his boycott in 2011, he cited UM research which suggested that 61% of consumers felt more negatively towards a brand if it was in the autoplay video environment, compared to 24% who felt more negatively towards brands which advertised in a non-autoplay video environment.
The research was based on interviews with 500 people who regularly visited Fairfax sites, and found that 96% of people thought the practise of autoplay was an annoyance.
Have something to say on this? Share your views in the comments section below. Or if you have a news story or tip-off, drop us a line at adnews@yaffa.com.au
Sign up to the AdNews newsletter, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for breaking stories and campaigns throughout the day.