Instart Logic Joins UK AOP To Support Industry Efforts To Protect Revenue From Ad Blocking

STAINES-UPON-THAMES, U.K. - July 26, 2017 - PRLog -- Instart Logic, provider of the world's leading cloud application performance, consumer experience and security platform, has joined the UK Association for Online Publishing (AOP). The move bolsters Instart Logic's strategy of working alongside industry leaders to address the damaging creative and economic impact of ad blocking on the online publishing sector.

Ad blocking is putting the future of quality journalism at risk. The global publishing industry depends on $230bn of digital advertising revenue to survive. In a recent study, the AOP estimated that larger UK publishers are each losing up to £2 million of advertising revenue a year due to ad blocking, while the median publisher loss is approximately £500,000 a year.

Richard Reeves, managing director, AOP commented: "We are pleased to welcome Instart Logic on board as AOP members. Premium publishers provide free, premium content that is funded by advertising – and we are actively working in collaboration with our members and other industry players to educate users on the idea of a value exchange."

While collective action is needed to evolve the advertising proposition, a group approach is also required to implement technology and standards that limit the impact of ad blocking on the ability to serve advertising and generate income.

"In the enterprise publishing community, we see an ever-increasing shift from print-based to digital advertising revenues. The Social Contract which end-users take out with publishers in return for free content means advertising is vital. However, the rise of ad blocking technology has significantly threatened the reliability of these revenue streams. Communication and friendly requests to turn off ad blockers have only had a limited, and frankly, rather weak impact. Putting the publisher back in control has been my focus in recent times. In my experience, Instart Logic allows publishers to maintain advertising presence and continue to monetise the opportunity our advertisers are paying for. At the same time, we can also choose to offer ad blocker users a more "ad-lite" experience where appropriate" added Simon Loxham, former Vice President of UK Brand Engineering at publisher Time Inc.

The use of ad blocking software is growing at 30% year over year, creating a major problem for the wider media sector. Publishers are losing essential revenues needed to fund content creation, pay wages and ensure that free-to-view content can exist. Advertisers are losing audience reach and are unable to support publications and content creators in their efforts. For established publishers, ad blockers are making the economic transition from print or broadcast to online considerably more challenging. For new online publishers, it makes the process of building a business potentially impossible.

"Advertising-funded business models are the most effective way to deliver compelling content to audiences, fund content creators such as journalists and ensure that online publishing is a viable and successful industry for the long term," said Andrew Bartlam, VP EMEA at Instart Logic. "Restoring the industry's ability to deliver and be compensated for high quality, free content, has to be the objective. The industry cannot continue to absorb costs associated with paid-for ad blocker whitelisting, nor can it accept users consuming its content with no revenue coming in. Positive messaging is important, but is one part of a wider initiative that puts publishers back in control of their advertising spaces and revenue generation."

Instart Logic Ad Integrity is a cloud-based platform that automatically restores digital advertising functionality. With Ad Integrity, websites and associated digital ads behave exactly as originally intended by the publisher, whether or not an ad blocker is present. More than a fifth of the world's top 100 publishers have adopted Ad Integrity, restoring more than seven billion high quality impressions and their associated revenues every month that would otherwise have been lost to ad blockers.

As part of the campaign, Instart Logic will be hosting a breakfast seminar for AOP members on best practices for responding to the growing threat of ad blocking on 8 September 2017.

About Instart Logic

Instart Logic helps hundreds of leading brands around the world deliver a faster, safer and more profitable digital experience through its revolutionary Cloud Application Services Platform. Instart Logic's platform combines machine learning, application and device awareness, and open APIs with a broad suite of integrated and automated capabilities including cloud, web and mobile application performance optimization, image optimization, digital advertising and marketing analytics recovery, web application firewall, DDOS protection, bot management and a next generation content delivery network. Using Instart Logic, enterprises can provide ultra-fast, visually immersive and secure experiences on any device to maximize revenue, deliver superior customer experiences and gain competitive advantage. Learn more at https://www.instartlogic.com or follow us on Twitter at @InstartLogic.