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Ad Blocking Action Day

Ad blocking is a growing threat to online business models, and one that publishers need address. What steps are they taking to win back readers who are already ad blocking? How can the user experience be improved? What are the key implications concerning privacy issues?

Ad Blocking Action Day, organized by the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA), will bring together industry experts and publishers from Aftonbladet, WeltN24 and the host company, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, to share their advice and strategies to counteract the ad blocking threat, says WAN-IFRA. This intense one-day event will take place at the FAZ offices in Frankfurt on 11 February from 10 to 16h.

Full details can be found here.

Highlights of the programme include:

Andreas Aspegren, Head of Online/ VP & Chief Product Officer, Aftonbladet Online, Sweden, will present Aftonbladet’s 7 point action plan to address ad blocking, which includes better ad formats and more relevant ads. They are also looking at options for a paid ad-free experience.

The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung have conducted their own survey of user attitudes to ad blockers. They also started a dialogue with their users about adblockers. Nico Wilfer, Head of Product Development FAZ.net, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Germany, will discuss how the survey has influenced their own action plan.

Axel Springer have seen a huge variety in ad blocking usage across their publications. Bild have taken the most direct approach, while at Die Welt their work is still behind the scenes. Lars Janzik, VP Product Management, WeltN24 will talk about their experiences with ad blocking and countermeasures taken at WeltN24 /Axel Springer

Johnny Ryan, Head of Ecosystem at PageFair, Ireland, will share country and demographic differences in ad block usage and potential revenue loss worldwide.

Many consumers are concerned about privacy issues. As an expert and highly experienced privacy campaigner, Alexander Hanff, Founder & CEO, Think Privacy, Poland will talk about the key privacy issues, the legality of various anti-ad-block approaches, and a possible tracking free future.

Ben Shaw, Director, Global Advisory - WAN-IFRA, will present results of the WAN-IFRA publisher survey on ad blocking and explain the focus of the recently created Publisher Task Force. He will also lead the workshop in the last session focused on how to devise an ad blocking action plan.

See full programme here.