Recently, there have been significant changes to auto-play policies for both Safari and Chrome on Desktop and Mobile which will result in a substantial impact on web-based games, advertisers and content providers.
The changes made to Safari and Chrome are in an attempt to improve the user browsing experience as well as reduce data consumption on strained networks. When visiting a webpage with unmuted content it can sometimes be considered both a surprise and a distraction from the user’s original purpose for visiting the website. With these changes, the browser providers hope to give the user more control over their experience and the video-play capabilities of individual websites.
The Effectiveness of Video Advertising
More and more consumers are preferring to shop online than visit traditional bricks-and-mortar retailers, which is having a huge impact on the high-street. This trend is set to continue as the ecommerce industry is estimated to be growing at around 23% per year. In turn, this means the eCommerce industry is expected to grow at an even faster pace and websites are a prime marketing channel for brands to advertise their products or services.
A successful promotional advert needs to highlight information, products and services that the end user can relate to in a quick and eye-catching way. This is why video adverts and GIFs fit the brief perfectly, but this digital media will now be hardest hit by the updated auto-play policy.
Companies will need to seek alternative ways to provide engaging visual content to the end user to continue increasing web traffic, sessions, time on site and most of all conversions. One of the best methods going forward may be to provide static adverts that click through to specific and tested landing pages.
Going Forward
As I mentioned previously, this policy change will have an impact on online advertising and the digital landscape, but it will be interesting to see how companies overcome the changes.
The next question is whether other browsers such as Mozilla Firefox, Bing, and Internet Explorer will follow in Google’s and Safari’s footsteps?
If you’re looking to maximise your online advertising efforts, then please get in touch with us at karl.montgomery@dupreecreative.com or on 01780 757666.