Commentary

Pesky Ads: Consumers Will Pay To Avoid Targeted Advertising In Social

Here is some comforting news for email teams trapped in their silos: Consumers are annoyed by targeted ads, and many will pay to get rid of them. 

Now it could be that people are frustrated with email, too. But 28.1% of shoppers will pay $50 a month to go ad-free, and only 5.1% would go to the trouble of paying for improved targeting of ads, according to “What is the real value of the online world & digital convenience,” a study released this week by Frontier Communications. 

That sounds like an opportunity for email marketers who can deliver personalized messaging based on first-party data.

Better targeted email than ads for eyeglass frames popping up on Facebook shortly after you have bought or searched for them online.  

Targeted ads in social media particularly bother baby boomers, with 56.6% expressing irritation, versus 37.3% of Gen Zers. Indeed, 49.6% of the latter find the ads enjoyable, while only 26.2% of the boomers do.   

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But 61.4% of all the respondents say improved data privacy is their most wanted social media addition. In addition, 54.1% want more security features, while 47.8% want greater data transparency, and 42.7% want better ID verification.

And 30.7% request improved content algorithms and 22.4% improved curated content. 

In contrast, subscription service users desire these service additions:

  • More security features — 56.8% 
  • Data privacy — 56.3%
  • Data transparency — 36.5%
  • ID verification — 35.3% 
  • Improved curated content — 25.3% 

Meanwhile, the study found that 67.2% are paying less than $100 per month for their internet service, although 50.3% say it is worth more than that. On average, they are shelling out $69 for the service, but value it at over $108.

It seems more than worth it, given that 76.1% say the internet is essential for their personal life, 70.7% for their work life and 64.4% for their social life.  

Frontier surveyed 1,001 consumers via Amazon MTurk. Of these, 56.3% were men, 43.5% were women and the remaining 0.2% reported as nonbinary. In addition, 25% were baby boomers, while 25.4% were Gen Xers, 25.2% were millennials and 24.4% were Gen Zers.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

1 comment about "Pesky Ads: Consumers Will Pay To Avoid Targeted Advertising In Social".
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  1. T Bo from Wordpress, May 9, 2022 at 4:54 p.m.

    How can I stop pop-up notices that block site content, even with a subscriber sign-on? Publishers should know how annoying that is.

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