ExchangeWire Research’s weekly roundup brings you up-to-date findings from around the world, with additional insight provided by Rebecca Muir, ExchangeWire, head of research and analysis. In this week’s edition: consumer power in the rights to privacy; 85% of users visually engaged with mobile native advertising; native ad user dwell time on mobile double that of desktop; broadcast and cable ratings continue to decline by double figures in the US; and UK consumer engagement worth £6.80 per minute. 

Consumer power in the rights to privacy

The ‘Google Spain’ case at the European Court of Justice led to a seminal ruling in the right to be forgotten debate. In effect taking the theoretical debate surrounding the issue of online privacy and making it an enforceable right, and the industry has taken note. Google have implemented an online system to enable individuals to activate their right to be forgotten, and have also set up an advisory board on the matter.

Dr Bernal, a lecturer in intellectual property and media law highlights that a revolutionary power shift needs to take place, removing power from the internet giants, such as Google, placing it back into the hands of ordinary consumers. Dr Bernals’ proposed Internet privacy manifesto calls for consumers to be handed more power ranging from the ‘right to be treated fairly on the internet’, to finding a way to use the internet as an archive. Within his paper, Dr Bernal highlights that the case of ‘Google Spain’ demonstrated an increased willingness on the part of regulators to question and challenge Google, Facebook and other leading internet giants, that all have access to vast swathes of users’ personal data.

Dr Bernal also says that internet search results are not based merely on algorithms, and as such, are created by humans that have biases and faults. Dr Bernal said ‘sometimes what people would like to be remembered becomes lost, whilst at all other times things that people would rather were forgotten is seemingly permanently remembered.’

Click here for access to Dr. Bernals’ ‘A right to be remembered? Or The Internet Warts and all’.

85% of users visually engaged with mobile native advertising

Research by Yahoo has found that when consumers view a stream of content on their smartphones, they don’t filter ads out specifically from the stream. This finding remained true irrespective of participants’ cognitive filtering ability. The research found that smartphone users were 2.2 times more likely to agree that, "If content is engaging then I don’t care if it is an advert".

85% of participants remained visually engaged when presented with a stream of content containing native advertising, 21% higher than visual engagement levels of other types of mobile display advertising. Interestingly, the study highlights that when questioned about the nature of the advertising, 62% of participants stated that they felt stream advertising was less intrusive than other forms of advertising. With 58% of participants stating that they felt native advertising fitted better with the content of mobile advertising.

The research also assessed users emotional reaction to advertising, finding that content marketing mobile native advertising elicited a 72% more emotional response in users when compared to other ‘in-stream’ advertising. Neuroscientist Dr Jack Lewis explained that, "the brain has several important roles to help us get on in life, including how we process sensory information and deem content worth our time." The human brain adapts to the environment it’s immersed in and within the context of mobile, the optimum way for the brain to process sensory information is through a stream of content.

When scanning the feed on mobile, 63% of users looked at images before words, reiterating the importance of using imagery to capture user attention in a stream. Although brands seek to stand out in the content they present, the research highlights that the message brands present and the manner in which they do so must blend into the content it sits within to provide the user with a positive experience.

Native ad user dwell time on mobile double that of desktop

Recent research by Adyoulike has found that the average dwell time of native ad content on mobile is double (2 min 20 seconds) than desktop, with 62% of publishers running native campaigns to take advantage of this. The report also highlights that traditional digital display advertising does not work as well on a smaller screen. Francis Turner, CRO at Adyoulike said, "mobile is the preferred way to go online now and native by far and away the most effective way for brands to reach them".

The research also highlights that the number of characters included in a headline message has a direct effect on user engagement with the ad. Ads with a headline of between 70-90 characters were pursued by 36% of consumers, in contrast those that had a headline of between 1-20 characters has a user engagement of just 13%. Unsurprisingly, the research showed that in-feed ads that users did not have to scroll down to view had a click through rate 56% higher than ads which users had to scroll down the page to see.

Broadcast and cable ratings continue to decline by double figures in the US

The recent ‘Optimizing Data-Driven Video Advertising’ report by Accenture highlights the dramatic shift in viewing habits of consumers. The report found that only 55% of Americans now use the TV as their primary source of viewing for TV and movie, with only 40% using it as their primary source to view sports. The report highlights that the decline is set to continue in double figures each year with the US market, with the ease of viewing on mobile and tablet being cited as the reason for the dramatic projected losses. Viewers are now not only consuming digital media on a multitude of devices; they are increasingly viewing this on the go.

Although, understandably, these figures may provide a challenge for TV companies, it provides a massive opportunity for advertisers who can increasingly tailor their advertising toward consumers based on the large amounts of data available to them from users mobile and tablet consumption. The report highlights that although there is an exponential increase in the opportunities available to marketers within the digital marketing industry, this area still accounts for a small amount of their business and their ability to capitalise fully on the opportunities this affords them is stunted.

Moving forward, companies must look to employ a range of increasingly complex analytics to ensure that they have the capability to understand in real time who is engaging with their content and on what device they are accessing it. To optimise this process, companies need to focus on integrating both their digital and core businesses.

Read the report here.

UK consumer engagement worth £6.80 per minute

The international ‘What’s my Worth? 2015’ study, conducted by Opinium Research, commissioned by Millennial Media, has found that 79% of respondents understood and accepted the value exchange of ads that support free apps and content. Seventy-two percent of respondents stated that they expected ads on mobile devices to keep content free, with only 3% of respondents willing to pay for the removal of ads from apps.

The research also revealed that consumers were more than twice as likely to remember a message viewed on a mobile device (22%) than on desktop (10%). The report also highlights the finding that those who had engaged with a mobile ad in the last 12 months on either their tablet (38%) or smartphone (35%) had been prompted to follow a number of actions, most notably considering a brand they would have otherwise not have considered (18%). The most significant finding was that 14% of consumers who had clicked on a mobile ad then went on to make a purchase, with 82% of these purchases being made online and 43% being made in bricks and mortar stores. Stephen Jenkins, VP, Global marketing and communications for Millennial Media, said, "as consumers increasingly expect to engage with brands on their mobile, we commissioned this research with a view to better understanding the end consumer’s perception of the brand messages they receive".

To read the ‘What’s my Worth? 2015’ study click here.