Leveraging what is likely the most comprehensive consumer study of its kind, this week The Coalition for Better Ads (CBA) took a meaningful step toward potentially improving both consumer and advertising experiences in the desktop and mobile spaces with the release of its ‘Initial’ Better Ads Standards guidance. Capturing the voice of the customer is absolutely critical in driving efficacy in advertising and consumer experience.  This study very practically puts the industry on notice that invasive, disruptive, distracting and annoying ad formats must change. TrustX will use findings like these to continue drive change and support new ad standards benefiting consumers, marketers and premium publishers.

The CBA collected ad preferences data from 25,000 internet users in North America and Europe. Not surprisingly, they identified a bevy (four on desktop and eight on mobile, to be exact) of “least-preferred” ad experiences falling below basic thresholds of acceptability.  Ad experiences that are not only driving practices like the adoption of ad-blocking technologies, but adversely impacting perceptions of publisher content and brand experiences.  The results of the Coalition’s consumer-focused research define Better Ads Standards that identify the ad experiences that fall beneath a threshold of consumer acceptability.

Download a PDF of the CBA’s ad gallery here.