WINTER 2017

30 THE DISTRIBUTOR’S

30 THE DISTRIBUTOR’S LINK Joe Dysart Joe Dysart is an Internet speaker and business consultant based in Thousand Oaks, California. A journalist for 20 years, his articles have appeared in more than 40 publications, including The New York Times and The Financial Times of London. During the past decade, his work has focused exclusively on ecommerce. Telephone: 631-256-6602; web: www.joedysart.com; email: joe@joedysart.com. GOT POP UP ADS?: COME 2017, GOOGLE WILL PENALIZE FASTENER DISTRIBUTORS THAT DO Google is cracking down on mobile Web sites that intentionally degrade the Web browsing experience for the rest of us. Beginning in January 2017, the search engine giant has announced plans to push your mobile Web site down in its search engine returns if you deliberately harass visitors with bothersome, pop-up ads. The same goes for fastener distributors that design Web sites that deliberately force visitors to endure ads before they can get to content – you’re Web site could appear lower in Google search engine returns if you persist in this ploy. “It’s 2016 and it’s hard to believe that browsing the Web on a mobile phone can still feel so slow with users abandoning sites that just don’t load quickly,” says Nick Zukoski, Software Engineer, Google. Besides attempting to foster faster download speeds, Google’s coming crackdown is also seen by many Web analysts as a furtive response to the proliferation of free ad blocking plugins Web cruisers are installing on their Web browsers. Essentially, many Web users are fed-up with intrusive ABOVE: COME 2017, GOOGLE’S ARMY OF CODERS WILL BE PENALIZING BUSINESSES THAT TRAFFIC IN ANNOYING POP- UP ADS. BELOW: LARRY PAGE, GOOGLE’S CO-FOUNDER, IS FOCUSED ON MAKING THE WEB AS EASY TO BROWSE AS POSSIBLE. ads deliberately designed to interrupt their interaction with content. And nearly 70 million Web users are expected to be cruising with special Web browser plug-ins designed to block intrusive, annoying Web advertising – ad blockers – by the close of 2016, according to eMarketer (www.emarketer.com). Moreover, another 17 million Web users are expected join the ranks of the advertising disaffected by the close of 2017, according to eMarketer. Those droves of people disgusted with Web advertising concern Google, which draws virtually all its revenue from Web advertising. “In today’s world of personalized content, being forced to watch an ad that has no relevance is a missed opportunity and feels increasingly intrusive on precious screen-time,” says Gavin Mann, industry lead, global broadcast industry, Accenture. “Industry needs to do everything possible to make ads less of an infringement on precious screen time, by building on early successes that deliver targeted, relevant and entertaining ads – in a creative style appreciated by the individual,” Mann says. CONTRIBUTOR ARTICLE CONTINUED ON PAGE 108