‘Social ads least accepted by consumers’

Social media is the least hospitable media channel for advertisers, according to a study, with just a third of consumers indicating they were happy to see marketing messages on sites such as Facebook and Twitter.

Social media

Thirty-seven per cent of the 2,000 consumers polled for the IAB/ValueClick report indicated they were happy to see ads on social media sites, the lowest total for any media.

A fifth (20%) said they were “unhappy” when presented with ads, the highest percentage registered.

Magazine and print advertisements are the most welcomed, 52% say they are happy and 10% unhappy to see them, followed by television and retail websites.

Elsewhere, the report found that more than half (52%) of consumers are accepting of online ads if it means they do not have to pay for content. Just one in ten respondents said they would be willing to pay for content if it was ad-free.

On privacy, 62% said they are concerned over the use of cookies for behavioural advertising. More than two-thirds (67%), however, are confident they have the tools to protect their online privacy, half said that they have deleted cookies in the last six months.

Despite the bullishness among the majority that they know how to bolster their online privacy, there is still some confusion about over what a cookie is, with only 57% choosing the correct definition from a list of options.

The findings come just weeks before the EU Privacy and Communication Directive, which requires all European websites to gain consent from users to use cookies that garner data, comes into force after a year-long grace period to prepare for compliance.

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