There is nothing more annoying than going to a Fairfax news site and opening a story, seconds later to be hit by the annoying sound of a TV commercial. Now, a major media buying company that acts for Microsoft and Sony along with the Federal Government, has pulled the plug on placing advertising across the Fairfax video network.
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Media agency UM has instigated an immediate ban on running their clients’ commercials on Fairfax media because autoplay videos are annoying users and making them hostile to advertisers, marketing web site Mumbrella has revealed.
Sydney based UM’s clients include some major players in the tech industry Sony, Microsoft as well as Coles and even the Federal Government.
Um recently conducted a survey which indicated 96% of those surveyed said they found autoplay videos annoying.
And its not good news for the brands being advertised either. More than half of those surveyed by UM (61% ) said they felt more negatively towards brands being advertised.
The video ads come up automatically when audiences click on to a story, whether they like it or not. It is then up to the reader to press stop on the often noisy videos.
UM’s clients were consulted before Fairfax was given the chop, an UM spokesperson confirmed to Smarthouse, and were “fully supportive” of the move, which is the first controversial decision taken by the new CEO, Mat Baxter.
The decision may not come as too much of a surprise for the Pyrmont based media house, with UM revealing it had notified Fairfax “several times” about their gripes but no action had followed.
“Video autoplay is misleading by design and we are not prepared to support Fairfax’s practice. This move is designed to protect our clients from paying for video inventory that is not only largely missing consumers, it is annoying them highly,” said Mr Baxter.
However, Fairfax maintain negative feedback has been absent from the autoplay ads, and 74 per cent watch them to completion.
“Not all our major clients have had Fairfax video inventory on their media plans, but we have spoken to the relevant clients and the decision applies across the board,” UM said.
