The ‘topic du jour’ for publishers and ad tech companies: Ad blockers

Everyone is battling ad blockers, from publishers to ad tech companies. At last week’s Digiday Publishing Summit, Complex Media’s CEO Rich Antoniello says ad blocking is “a really serious thing” for him in particular: Up to 21 percent of his audience uses ad blockers, an increase from just 8 percent a year ago. (The company even fines its own employees who use ad blockers. Antoniello said, “the cookie jar is filling.”) Kenneth Suh of Unruly called ad blocking “the topic du jour,” though we’re only in the early days of the phenomenon. Here’s what publishers and ad tech companies had to say on ad blocking.

More in Media

How a ‘TikTok doctorate’ made 26-year-old Griffin Johnson a venture capitalist

Griffin Johnson made it big on TikTok back in 2019, now he runs a VC firm and uses his marketing expertise in the Derby world.

Media Briefing: Publishers debate the value of AI licensing and GEO

Publishers may be gaining visibility in AI search, but execs say the lack of traffic and licensing revenue is raising doubts about the payoff.

Meta’s bid to woo creators to Facebook just might work, despite its recent legal woes

Meta’s recent legal woes likely won’t deter creators from trying out its new Facebook Creator Track, according to marketing experts.