One way that ad-blocking programs make money is, paradoxically, by showing you some ads. The popular add-on AdBlock Plus shows users ads that it deems “acceptable” by default, and has been accused of charging some publishers a percentage of the ad income that otherwise would have been lost. Now the maker of AdBlock Plus, Eyeo, is changing how it decides which ads deserve unblocking. [More]
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New TiVo Bolt Will Let You Skip Some Ad Breaks With Push Of A Button (For $150/Year)
By 9.30.15
TiVo’s new Bolt DVR has some neat-sounding functions — the ability to skip ad breaks at the press of a button [big asterisk] or speed up what you’re watching by 30% without screwing with the audio — and it’s also 4K compatible and provides an all-in-one portal for access to streaming services like Netflix and Amazon. But it does so, not just at a hefty retail price, but with a subscription requirement that might turn potential customers away. [More]
Comcast Officially Launches Its “Watchable” YouTube Competitor
By 9.29.15
Back in August, we mentioned that Comcast was working on something called “Watchable,” its attempt to cash in on the curated online video craze that all the marketing and advertising kids are talking about. We also hoped that “Watchable” was just a working title, because it’s not exactly an astounding endorsement of quality. Today, Comcast announced that it’s indeed launching Watchable, so-so brand name and all. [More]
Regulators Sue Weight-Loss Marketer Who Used Fines, Lawsuits To Stop Negative Consumer Reviews
By 9.28.15
Federal regulators on Monday continued their crackdown on deceptive, ineffective weight-loss products, this time by filing a lawsuit against a company that threatened to enforce a so-called “gag clause” by imposing fines and filing lawsuits to stop customers from posting negative reviews and testimonials for the products online. [More]
Viacom Will Try Running Fewer Ads During Prime Time TV
By 9.21.15
Advertisers pay a lot to air commercials, and the price they pay is based on the projected popularity of the show being interrupted. When a TV network’s ratings are great, it might try to cash in by airing as many top-dollar ads as its viewers can take. But when ratings sag, that network has to contend with both annoyed viewers and shortchanged advertisers. That’s why, according to a new report, after years of cramming ads into every nook and cranny, media giant Viacom (MTV, Comedy Central, Nickelodeon) is going to try shaving a few minutes of ads during prime time. [More]
Johnson & Johnson Pull Ads From “The View” Because Nurses Do Indeed Wear Stethoscopes
By 9.18.15
An offhanded, but definitely ill-informed, comment by View co-host Joy Behar about a nurse wearing a “doctor’s stethoscope” has resulted in one of TV’s biggest advertisers pulling its commercials from the ABC chat-fest. [More]
Facebook Trying To Assure Advertisers That Their Ads Are Actually (Maybe, Possibly) Being Seen
By 9.17.15
Will you do something for us? Take a quick, 10-second look at just about any site that isn’t Consumerist and then come back here. Done? Now see if you can remember all — or any — of the ads on that page. You probably can’t because (A) we’ve trained ourselves to ignore ad units and (B) you probably skimmed past or didn’t even get to a lot of the ads on that page. Advertisers know this, which is why Facebook is offering an option that only charges them when someone sees 100% of their ad. [More]
Buffalo Wild Wings May Cut Ties With “League” Star Who Lied About Harrowing 9/11 Experience
By 9.16.15
Another celebrity may be losing his job after admitting he included himself in a real-life tragedy that he had nothing to do with. This time, it’s Steve Rannazzisi — co-star of The League and recently hired TV pitchman for Buffalo Wild Wings — who revealed this morning that he’d lied about his account of being in the World Trade Center when it was struck by a terrorist-piloted plane. [More]
With Ad-Blockers Coming To iPhone, Ad Industry Poised For A Fight
By 9.4.15
According to one estimate, some $22 billion in online ad revenue was lost last year because so many people use ad-blocking plugins on their web browsers. And that number is set to soar with an upcoming tweak to Apple iOS that will allow ad-blocking on the iPhone and iPad’s Safari browser. The ad industry is looking at a number of ways to stem this tide, including the legal route. [More]
McDonald’s Can’t Use The Word “Artisan” To Describe Limited-Edition Burger In Ireland
By 9.1.15
In a world where marketers are constantly trying to catch the attention of shoppers with products that are seen as fresh, wholesome and healthy, there are some words that perhaps used to mean something more to people than they used to. Like “artisan” — in the past, this would’ve meant a skilled worker spending time and great effort on making something. Now, that could just mean more premium ingredients on your fast food burger. But in Ireland, it’s not so easy to use such words lightly, as McDonald’s recently found out with its first attempt at an “artisan” Irish burger. [More]
Google Chrome Will Block Flash Ads, Auto-Playing Videos Starting Sept. 1
By 8.28.15
If you hate the blast of noise and music that hits your ears every time an auto-playing video unexpectedly goes off on a web page you’ve just opened, rejoice: Google Chrome will be blocking all Adobe Flash content deemed not central to a web page starting Sept. 1. [More]
Fox Offers Viewers Choice: Watch Traditional Commercials, Or Watch Just One Ad
By 8.19.15
If you had the choice to watch just one commercial before a program begins, then watch the rest uninterrupted, would you consider it? Fox is beginning an experiment with that idea this week. Viewers of Gordon Ramsay’s kiddie cooking contest, MasterChef Junior, will have the choice to watch one minute-long interactive ad before the show begins, or regular old ad breaks during the program. [More]
Pornhub Censors Commercial Likening Video Service To Parmagiano-Reggiano After Cheese Group Complains
By 8.13.15
Although dairy lovers might compare a beautifully shaped, delicious, hard cheese to food porn, an Italian cheese group says an ad that likened a streaming porn service to its famed Parmagiano-Reggiano cheese is basically blasphemy. [More]
Ad Blockers Will Prevent You From Seeing $22B Worth Of Unwanted Ads This Year
By 8.10.15
Are you using an ad blocker on your web browser? If so, you probably don’t care what’s behind those grayed-out boxes where the ads are supposed to be. The folks who do care are the websites you visit, because they aren’t getting ad revenue from those grayed-out boxes. A new report says that ad-blocking will result in nearly $22 billion in lost ad revenue worldwide this year. [More]
The Going Rate For A 30-Second Super Bowl Commercial Spot Tops $5M
By 8.6.15
Even though last year’s slate of Super Bowl ads was largely regarded as ho-hum, and even though advertisers are increasingly subverting the “surprise!” effect of Super Bowl sunday commercials by relentlessly teasing their big-ticket spots online days in advance, the NFL’s big game is still TV’s biggest annual draw, and so the cost to be a part of it is going up again. [More]
Converse Blows Up New Chuck Taylor Shoes To Show What’s Different
By 7.31.15
Maybe you saw a photo of Converse’s new version of their classic Chuck Taylor All-Stars and wondered what the big deal is. “So they changed the eyelet color,” you say. “What’s the difference?” To appease people like you, Converse virtually exploded one of their new shoes so you can see what’s inside. [More]
UPDATED: Critic Publicly Calls Out Movie Company For Editing His Negative Review Into A Rave
By 7.27.15
Everyone knows that when a movie trailer or poster is peppered with single-word review quotes — “Wow,” “Thrilling,” “Meh” — there’s usually a good reason why the full sentence from the reviews aren’t being quoted. But when you see something resembling a complete thought on a DVD box, you might be misled into thinking it accurately represents the reviewer’s opinion. [More]
