TechBytes with Jeffrey Finch, CPO and Co-Founder, Choozle

What prompted Choozle to come up with a mid-year report on Digital Advertising?

The AdTech industry is undergoing a lot of change and scrutiny right now. We wanted to get a new — and better — gauge of consumer sentiment post-Facebook and GDPR. The results speak for themselves.

What are the major factors/indicators aggravating consumer distaste in online advertising?

Even though the survey shows that consumers are uninformed when it comes to things like data privacy and GDPR, people look up when they hear any mention of Facebook. That, coupled with little education, suggests their perception of the industry is less than favorable.

What trend(s) mentioned in the report were you hoping that they would continue to build their momentum (but could not)?

It was interesting to see that the influence of connected TV was low, but that being said, it’s hard to tell whether or not some of the trends have lost momentum completely.

Why is Instagram advertising still far behind from the duopoly?

Target audiences on Instagram are more defined than audiences on Facebook and Google. E-commerce does well on Instagram, especially when the product is geared towards women ages 18 to 29 (the survey showed a 60-percent influence rate for this demographic.) With more of a niche audience, the results for Instagram were expected.

Would video formats maintain their popularity in the most preferred advertising platform for content sharing and promotion?

It’s about knowing your audience. The survey shows that older audiences prefer video ads over display ads whereas, with younger audiences, it’s the other way around. Brands and agencies need to take this information and apply it instead of using these strategies for the sake of perceived popularity.

Tell us about the state of Voice search-based advertising. How should publishers prepare for the new technology?

Do your research and get ahead of the curve, but be agile and ready to make changes on a dime as the technology continues to adapt to, hopefully, best serve consumers.

What makes ad blocker a top-trending disruption in ad tech? How can programmatic advertising formats help overcome the challenge with ad blockers?

According to the survey, over half of respondents had not used an ad blocker in the past six months, which means we don’t have too big of a hill to climb — yet. Brands should start focusing on SEO and good, valuable Content Marketing that will attract users on its own.

Where do you see online advertising moving with better data regulations and hygiene?

I see a rise in cookie-less targeting or, more specifically, contextual keyword targeting — the ability to reach a specific audience without relying on consumer data.

Thanks for chatting with us, Jeffrey.