V3 is Incisive Media’s digital technology media brand and is read by IT professionals and business managers. Because of the tech-savvy nature of its audience, say the publishers, the brand has a relatively high level of ad blocking activity. This is increasingly having an effect on the site’s performance.
The brand has taken a ‘hearts and minds’ approach to the issue, explaining to users that its content is funded by advertising, and for its journalism to remain free they need to be able to view ads to pay for it.
“We are being very honest with our users,” says V3.co.uk’s publisher Tom Wright. "Sites like V3 are largely funded by advertising, so to remain free, we need users to turn off their ad blockers. It’s as simple as that, and the quality of our content means users get a very good deal.”
Early results are promising, with the use of ad-blocking software declining by 30%+ since the solution was deployed.
The project was led by head of digital John Holt and ad tech leader Darren Sharp.
