WFA statement on Coalition for Better Ads standards

Said Stephan Loerke, Chief Executive Officer of the World Federation of Advertisers (WFA), in relation to the release of initial Better Ads Standards for desktop and mobile web in North America and Europe*:

“The first ‘Better Ads Standards‘ for North America and Europe are an important first step for the Coalition. Brand owners now have data on which online ad formats their consumers dislike and therefore won’t interact with.

The WFA strongly encourages its members and all advertisers to review the research and implement the Better Ads Standards in their online campaigns, helping improve the online ad experience for consumers and reduce the incentive to ad block.

As an industry, we need to make the online environment more consumer-friendly and with the Coalition – which includes Procter & Gamble, Unilever, Facebook, and Google – we have a critical mass of large ad industry players working hard to make this a reality.

I hope that consumers will quickly see the difference as, pop-up ads and large sticky ads disappear from the desktop web, and flashing ads, auto playing video ads and prestitial ads disappear from the mobile web. (The full list of problematic ad formats can be seen on the Coalition’s website).

The Coalition will build on this important work by expanding its efforts to other regions, and will look at establishing standards in Latin America and Asia next.
This is not a static process. In the years to come, the standards will evolve and innovation will push the industry to come up with new ad formats that don’t damage the consumer experience while also enabling effective brand promotion.”

*Coalition for Better Ads: "Coalition for Better Ads Releases Initial Better Ads Standards for Desktop and Mobile Web in North America and Europe"

Reference: WFA