FT finds success with ad blocking experiment

The Financial Times found that almost 40 percent of readers whitelisted the site when asked to do so during a 30-day experiment to counter the use of ad blocking technology on FT.com.

This result came despite the fact that readers were not prevented from accessing content.

Whitelisted means they added the Financial Times to the list of sites within their adblocker allowed to show ads — they can still use an ad-blocker generally, but FT.com ads come through.

“Through open dialogue with FT readers we are emphasizing the importance of advertising as a revenue stream for quality, independent journalism,” said Dominic Good, global advertising sales and strategy director, in a statement. “These results show that FT readers accept advertising as part of the reader/publisher value exchange, and they trust us to create the best possible advertising experience with our partners.”

The FT is expanding and investing in new advertising formats with the recent acquisition of Alpha Grid, and the appointment of former FT journalist Ravi Mattu as editorial director of FT2, the FT’s content marketing studio. Last year the FT launched its widely followed digital advertising metric “cost per hour,” which increases advertising viewability and effectiveness by measuring not just whether an ad is seen or not, but for how long.