The first big question is, will the publishers who participate in ad blocking also participate in programmatic advertising? Or will ad blocking be a significant component of programmatic algorithms? But on a serious note, ad blocking is a blessing for digital advertising. Otherwise serving an ad to the customer was the be-all and end-all of the advertising fraternity. We have got too much into the hyperlocalisation and hyperpersonalisation game.

If someone travelled from Mumbai to Lucknow, they would be bombarded with display ads about Mumbai and Lucknow promotions. On the one hand we say that the true power of digital lies in organic growth of popularity, and on the other we spend an inordinate amount of energy on just serving an ad in the right context. (Or so we think.)

Make it content-led My challenge to agencies is to show enough pieces of shareable work. For every three million pieces of advertising that gets generated only about three of them would be truly shareable. The others ads are always a source of constant irritation for consumers. As consumers we deserve not to be bombarded by irritating advertising. The entire digital advertising idea in India is currently delivery-led and it’s not content-led. That could change with ad blocking. Also, a majority of the digital advertising work that gets produced is of a very low quality — I think those should get blocked for the sake of aesthetics.

(As told to Prasad Sangameshwaran)

Partha Sinha is MD for Publicis South Asia

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