Web3, Sustainability, and Pastéis de Nata: AAX goes to WebSummit 2022

The first four days of November 2022 saw the city of Lisbon filled with faces from all over the world and all corners of tech. WebSummit, the event that The Guardian dubbed “Glastonbury for geeks,” was in full swing.

WebSummit, which features more than a thousand speakers and attracts over 70,000 attendees, is one of the best places to get a sense of the conversations and issues that are being discussed—and shaping—the tech world. The grand purpose of WebSummit, as its website attests, is to answer one singular question: Where to next?

Otilia Otlacan, AAX VP of Business Operations, flew to Lisbon to, as she puts it, “take the pulse.” This autumn, WebSummit talks and panels were shedding light on a new world, one that’s buffeted by fresh issues and challenges and contemplating the ways in which tech can help build a better future.

We sat down with Otilia to get her impressions of the kinds of topics that defined 2022’s WebSummit, how the conference has changed over the last year, which talks were important and inspiring and—of course—where to get the best pastel de nata in Portugal’s capital city.

AAX: Welcome back to gray Berlin! First things first: what would you say was AAX’s overall mission at the conference this year?

Otilia Otlacan: Honestly, our purpose there was to watch and learn. We were interested in absorbing as much information about the current climate—what are people thinking about? what conversations are being had? what developments and trends are being discussed?—as we could.

While AAX is a B2B business, the backbone of everything we do is the Acceptable Ads user. We need to understand who this user is, what they want, what they engage in. And that means getting a general sense of the pertinent issues; taking the pulse.

And, of course, we were there to support the Web Summit Women in Tech Networking Evening, hosted by our friends at eyeo.

AAX: Tell us a little more—what was the Web Summit Women in Tech Networking Evening all about?

OO: It was essentially an evening of networking, sharing stories, and good food and drinks, organized by Jutta Horstmann, COO and Managing Director of eyeo and Gertrud Kolb, CTPO at eyeo. The theme was “Successes and Failures,” which served as an opportunity to discuss the ins and outs—and the many challenges—of being a woman in tech. The aim was to listen and learn and, in doing so, inspire each other to further growth.

AAX: So what were the main issues addressed at 2022’s WebSummit?

OO: I think it can be distilled into three primary topics: crypto, Web3, and sustainability.

One event that struck me as particularly interesting was the talk that Toto Wolff (team principal and CEO, Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS Formula 1) had with F1 TV commentator Rosanna Tennant and Oliver Steil, CEO of Teamviewer. When you hear the word “sustainability,” it’s very unlikely that the first thing that springs to mind is Formula 1—but that’s exactly what this panel was about.

Formula 1 wants to be carbon neutral by 2030, which is a challenge because one of the necessities of the sport is the team of mechanics, the scores of people that have to fly all over to the world to attend to the car. The number of flights that necessitates translates to a massive carbon footprint. And Wolff wants to change this—the idea is to become remote first.

To be remote first, though, it’s necessary to have the right tools. Wolff talked a lot about how using Teamviewer, including headsets, allowed remote mechanics to give help and guidance to the handful that are required on-site.

AAX: What else made an impression? Any specific talks or speakers spring to mind?

OO: Yes, absolutely. No one was more inspirational than the Ukranian first lady, Olena Zelenska, who gave the last talk on opening night. She spoke about how technology has been misused for violence but that she believes that technology can be used to save and to help people and communities. The decision to create tech that acts as a force for good, Zelenska said, can have a huge impact and “move the world in the right direction.”

Besides that speech, which was a stand-out, the majority of the talks, at least on larger stages, were discussing Web3. Crypto was a big topic of discussion. And maybe the most memorable talks that hit on these subjects came from Tim Berners-Lee, the guy who invented the World Wide Web. He said a few bold statements that have gotten a lot of attention, like “Web3 is not the web at all.”

AAX: How did the conversations at this year’s WebSummit compare to previous years? Or even just last year—how did WebSummit 2022 compare to WebSummit 2021?

OO: The focus on Web3 and crypto seemed more emphasized this year, but in 2021 people were also talking about sustainability. Sustainability is a topic that’s here to stay!

But the most prominent change, I think, was just that this year was a lot more seamless. Last year was, from a logistics perspective, hugely complicated because of Covid. The queues were up to two and a half hours long—because it was important to check not just tickets, but vaccination status and negative tests, etc. This year people were queueing, sure, but thankfully for nowhere near as long.

AAX: I’m sure the experience of being in Lisbon was phenomenal. What’s your favorite thing about Lisbon, in general?

OO: It’s impossible to pick one thing! It’s such a gorgeous place, and the weather and food are both phenomenal.

One thing I noticed about Lisbon, and about this WebSummit, was how freelancer and consultant-friendly it was. There was a huge global contingent, but I was surprised just how many people there came from Lisbon, and from around Portugal. And this really does represent a huge shift in the audience demographic—the people attending events like WebSummit used to be predominantly older, and predominantly people from large business hubs like London and Frankfurt.

That’s changed. Now you see a huge number of younger people, and they’re from everywhere. This is because you don’t need to be based in one of a few major tech hubs to do exciting work.

And I think Portugal has done a great job in attracting a vibrant demographic. Because young, talented people now have access to resources, and have the freedom to work and to exist and thrive anywhere they want. And they want to be in Portugal, eating a pastel de nata for breakfast.

AAX: Okay, last question: where’s your favorite place to get pastéis de nata?

OO: Probably Fábrica da Nata. Their pastéis de nata are so amazing, and the café is gorgeous as well.

Meet Omayra Cruz, SVP Account Management, AAX

“This is an interesting moment for the industry,” says Omayra Cruz.

She’s talking to me over Zoom from her home in Bloomington, Indiana, where she’s lived for seven years with her family. Besides the thoughtfulness with which she speaks about AAX and the ad tech industry, the thing I notice first about Cruz is the fact that she’s wearing a Leeds United training top.

“I’m a Leeds United supporter,” she explains. “I studied at University of Leeds and my husband is a lifelong supporter so it was kind of non-negotiable.”

Omayra Cruz

Leeds was a stop along the interesting, international path that brought Cruz to AAX. After growing up in Florida, she attended graduate school in California and the UK before making her way to New York. This was where she started in the tech world, working first in e-commerce and later in ad tech. Eight years later, she relocated to the Midwest, working remotely even before the era of COVID-19 turned reading nooks into remote offices across the globe.

Earlier this year, she reconnected with AAX CEO Scott Schwanbeck at an industry event, where he mentioned a new role opening up at AAX. And speaking with the larger AAX team, says Cruz, “cemented my interest in the role.” She started as AAX’s SVP Account Manager in mid-June, 2022.

You mention an interesting moment in our industry. Can you expand on that a little?

So what’s top of mind for everyone across our space—publishers and technology companies alike, buyers included, is how exactly our industry is going to function with the shifting conversation around privacy and identity. As new regulation comes into play and as technologies that we’ve been dependent on, for better or for worse (like the ubiquitous cookie) are reconsidered, there’s a big question mark about what things will look like in two years’ time. What will we be doing in two? How will we be doing it? How can we be effective and impactful?

The playbook that we use today is likely not going to be the playbook that we use in the future. That’s not to say that everything will change, but there will be changes. And no one really knows yet how to assess those, and how to respond.

How do you see the industry looking in two years’ time? Any predictions, any hopes? How will things look in 2024?

In 2024, my expectation is that the biggest technology companies will have further consolidated their position, which they’ve been doing and they will likely continue to do, particularly as the larger industry experiences more headwinds based on economic trends.

And then also, in two years’ time, what the CTV space looks like. There’s a massive shift of interest and time spent on those channels and, per conversations I’ve had with colleagues in the space, they’re still very much figuring it out. How that develops will factor for all of us across the industry.

AAX has been very much focused on standard display and native in the desktop environment. But our scope is evolving. At some point, we will have to have a position on convergence as well. I think it’s impossible to not participate. There’s just too much spend headed in that direction. That’s where users go!

What else are you looking forward to? What excites you about the future?

My goal is to continue to develop product that is differentiated and meets a need that the market has.

There are many technology companies out there building product, and there are some questions as to who wants it? What are you building this for? Is it actually solving an issue that your customers have?

So, I think us understanding the landscape, shaping our vision, and being responsive to the real needs is top priority. And then we do the work of evangelizing to make sure that we tell our story well.

Okay, one last thing. What are some other details that really define you? That people really need to know in order to understand Omayra Cruz?

People who are close to me know that I really like to tackle difficult challenges. I’ve been a student of Shotokan Karate under Shihan James Field for over fifteen years and one thing he would always say is that he loves karate because it’s hard. That resonates for me. The challenge is what keeps you coming back!

Can you actually chop through a piece of wood with your bare hands? Or is that a myth?

I think people can do that. But I’ve never had occasion to chop wood with my hand—there are tools for that!

AAX Names Omayra Cruz SVP Account Management

The appointment of Omayra Cruz as SVP Account Management reflects AAX’s increased focus and commitment to customer service excellence

AAX, the leading ad exchange dedicated to recovering revenue lost to ad blockers, strengthens its leadership team with a new Senior Vice President Account Management hire. Omayra Cruz is joining AAX’s leadership team, where she will be responsible for driving success for AAX publishers, reporting to AAX CEO, Scott Schwanbeck. As SVP Account Management, her primary role will be to drive strategic initiatives aimed at giving the best experience to the ever-growing list of AAX publishers.

“We’re working to realize sustainable and impactful publisher revenue that preserves user experience and creates value for brands,” Cruz said. “AAX helps publisher partners derive significant, incremental ad revenue from their content while remaining mindful of the user experience.”

Cruz is an accomplished leader in the ad tech space, with extensive expertise in publisher monetization. She joins AAX from Minute Media, where she served as VP Publisher Business Development, having previously held a senior leadership role at YieldMo. She holds a PhD in Literature from UC San Diego, MA in Cultural Studies from University of Leeds, and a BA in Philosophy from University of Tampa.

“We’re very excited to welcome Omayra to AAX,” says AAX CEO Scott Schwanbeck. “Her deep Publisher experience and her analytical and process-driven approach to customer success make Omayra the perfect fit for AAX and our customers,” continues Schwanbeck.

About AAX

AAX allows publishers, advertisers and users to benefit from a healthy, respectful and balanced ad ecosystem. We’re a programmatic ad exchange dedicated to serving a highly coveted audience of more than 250 million consumers that have consented to see user-friendly, respectful ads designated as “acceptable” by the Acceptable Ads Committee’s criteria. AAX’s mission is to foster a new type of marketplace—an ad exchange capable of reaching users seeking an alternative ad experience, driving significant incremental revenue to Publishers who’ve lost revenue due to ad blocking and offering buyers access to premium inventory and audiences from our direct-to-publisher deals.

How Do Ad Filterers Vote? Our New Study Finds Out.

We live in a political world.

In 2022, politics informs more of our personal lives than ever before. And there’s an overwhelming understanding that partisanship—being affiliated with either the left or right, donkey or elephant, Democrat or Republican—is the name of the game.

But, as it turns out, there are plenty of people who occupy a political middle ground.

We penned American Ad Blocking Users’ Political Profile because we wanted to know how American ad blocking users, otherwise known as ad filterers—the 95% of users that have an ad blocker installed on their device but still consent to be served ads—fall on the red/blue divide.

We consulted the treasure trove of data that the GlobalWebIndex (GWI) keeps about online behavior. We examined voter affiliation, of course, but we also looked at reported values, demographic information, and the adjectives ad blocking users felt best described them.

And what we found is that, rather than being red or blue, ad filterers are…purple. This dynamic demographic doesn’t fit neatly into the Democrat or Republican box.

We’ve done a lot of deep digging into the ad blocking user profile in previous studies. In our last study, looked at the main—and auxiliary—reasons they block ads. In the previous study, we examined how and why ad filterers have such unsurpassed purchasing power and online activity. And, in our first report, we peered into why ad filterers lead the pack in terms of brand discovery and their appetite for digital content.

Interested in learning more about the motivations behind ad blocking? Just fill out the contact form below and American Ad Blocking Users’ Political Profile will be emailed to you—free of charge, of course.

Please fill in the contact form below and the report will be sent to you.

How free-spirited are ad filterers?

No deep dive into the values and politics of American ad filterers—the name given to the 95% of people who use an ad blocker but still consent to be served ads—would be complete without asking ad filterers how they perceive a very special and specific demographic.

Themselves.

We looked at who ad filterers see when they look in the mirror, because one of the most interesting indicators of political affiliation has to do with how voters see themselves.

So what does their reflection look like? Are they artistic? Successful? Family-oriented? Self-perception can go a long way toward forming political allegiances.

We looked first at descriptors that can be grouped under the umbrella term “Bohemian.” And, when it comes to ad filterers, these free-thinkers love creativity, adventure, and keeping an open mind.

Or to be more precise: almost 3⁄4 say that they’re known for being open-minded, more than half describe themselves as bursting with creativity, and slightly less than half are adventure-seekers.

The voting pattern of free spirits

But what does it mean to self-identify as a free spirit? Which party attracts members that think of themselves as having Bohemian qualities?

It’s an interesting question, and to answer it fully we have to look at two questions: how partisans view themselves, and how they view each other. In other words: how do people who dependably vote Democrat/Republican view other members of their party…and how do they view members of the opposite party?

According to Pew Research, when Republicans were asked to describe fellow Republicans, 42% answered that “Republicans are more open-minded compared to other Americans.” And when Democrats were asked to describe fellow Democrats, 70% answered that “Democrats are more open-minded” compared to other Americans.”

This would suggest that open-mindedness is a quality that’s highly-prized by Democrats, and slightly less a priority for Republicans. This also would suggest that ad-blocking users, 73.4% of whom feel described by the adjective “open-minded” would be more likely to vote Democrat than Republican.

But things get a little more complicated when you realize how Democrats and Republicans view each other. The open-mindedness gap closes somewhat.

When asked “Is the other party a lot/somewhat more close-minded compared to other Americans,” both Republicans and Democrats pointed fingers. 64% of Republicans said that Democrats were more close-minded than other Americans, and 74% of Democrats said that Republicans were more close-minded than other Americans.

This suggests that both Democrats and Republicans view close-mindedness as an undesirable trait. From that we can infer that, when asked, members of both parties might opt to self-identify as “open-minded.”

***

AAX is devoted to knowing everything there is to know about ad filterers. In one previous study we looked into what makes this demographic unique, another study examined their purchasing habits, and our most recent study dug deep into ad filterer motivation: the reasons ad filterers avoid advertisements, and how and why those reasons change. Our passion for all things ad filterer is why we’ve turned our attention to an issue that’s capturing everyone’s attention: ad filterers’ political profiles. We’ve looked through the fascinating findings over at the GlobalWebIndex (GWI) to compile a new study—American Ad Blocking Users’ Political Profile—available for free download in May 2022.

What lifestyle choices do ad filterers make?

We know that American ad filterers are a highly educated bunch of people. We know they tend, on average, to be younger and more committed to be open-minded than other demographics. We even know where they like to live—like many former city-dwellers hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, they’ve moved to suburbia.

But what about the lifestyle choices that define the day-to-day for ad filterers, the 95% of users who have an ad blocker installed on their device but consent to be served respectful, unobtrusive ads? We wanted to take a look at how these users view themselves, what adjectives they choose to express their identity.

The first thing we learned was a little surprising, especially for a demographic that makes a higher-than-average income and loves to spend its hard-earned cash on any number of items both big and small.

But few (a mere 12%) of ad filterers actually refer to themselves as “affluent.”

Who Defines Affluence?

Why does the ad filtering demographic, which is so high-achieving and high earning, fail to recognize itself as affluent? The answer might just lie in psychology.

According to Business Insider, very few people who are rich…think that they’re rich. Only 13% of millionaires would refer to themselves as “wealthy,” according to BI findings. And according to Charles Schwab’s 2019 Modern Wealth Survey “on average, Americans think it takes $2.3 million in the bank to be wealthy.”

…which seems like a lot.

But this plays into something more interesting: the fact that the feeling of wealth can exist independent from money. Some respondents making less than $50,000 report feeling affluent, and some respondents making over $100,000 reported feeling poor.

A lot of this has to do with location, location, location…and how much that location costs. An annual income of $75,000 means something different in San Francisco than it does in Little Rock, Arkansas.

In San Francisco the average monthly rent for a one-bedroom apartment is $2,895. In Little Rock, Arkansas the average rent for a one-bedroom apartment is $746. And the difference extends beyond just rent: in San Francisco, for example, a liter of milk costs $1.40; in Little Rock, it costs $0.92.

So location could be the root of the reason that ad filterers tend not to view themselves as affluent—since they tend to live in larger cities and the suburbs of larger cities, they might be constrained by the higher cost of living that exists within these places.

Fashion and Health

Even though we know that ad filterers spend time and money on fashion, only 1/5 of ad filterers describe themselves as “fashion conscious.” It’s unclear whether this 22.3% of ad filterers care more about the clothes that they themselves wear, of if they’re just preoccupied with trend-spotting and reading Vogue.

When it comes to health, however, things are different. Almost half of ad filterers are happy to describe themselves as “health conscious.” We think that this has to do with how health consciousness is valued in American society. Bragging about wealth and confessing to being committed to charting runway fashions isn’t always seen as a positive attribute—these are the kinds of things that people might be tempted to downplay.

But with the rise in wellness culture, more and more people are vocally interested in staying healthy. The 44.8% of ad filterers who describe themselves as health conscious are boosted by a society that prizes the virtues of health above trends…and wealth.

***

AAX is devoted to knowing everything there is to know about ad filterers. In one previous study we looked into what makes this demographic unique, another study examined their purchasing habits, and our most recent study dug deep into ad filterer motivation: the reasons ad filterers avoid advertisements, and how and why those reasons change. Our passion for all things ad filterer is why we’ve turned our attention to an issue that’s capturing everyone’s attention: ad filterers’ political profiles. We’ve looked through the fascinating findings over at the GlobalWebIndex (GWI) to compile a new study—American Ad Blocking Users’ Political Profile—available for free download in May 2022.

Ad Blocking Users and Traditional Values

When people talk about “values” and “values voters,” they’re often referring to values surrounding tradition: carrying on the attitudes of previous generations when it comes to gender roles, faith, outlook, and financial stability.

So to understand the relationship that American ad filterers— the 95% of users that choose to run an ad blocker but have also consented to see ad—have to so-called “traditional values,” we looked at the question posed by GlobalWebIndex (GWI).

GWI asked ad filterers, “Which of the following is important to you?” about the following four categories:

    • Being financially secure
    • Having a positive attitude
    • Maintaining traditional gender roles
    • My faith/spirituality

So how do ad filterers fare? Are they keeping the traditions of their parents and grandparents alive, or seeking out new values?

74.6% of ad filterers value financial stability, and they’re almost as impassioned about having a positive attitude, with 73.4% responding that a positive attitude is important. They’re also interested in faith and spirituality: 43.6% respond that it’s a vital part of their lives.

But as far as gender goes, they’re forward-thinking. Only about 17.7% value maintaining traditional gender roles.

Traditional Roles + Political Roles

Of the categories responded to, the most consistently accurate gauge of political affiliation is answering “My faith/spirituality […] is important to me.” In general, faith and spirituality is more important to Republicans than Democrats.

According to Pew Research, a mere 9% of Republicans consider themselves “unaffiliated” with any particular religion. But does that mean that the 43.6% of ad filterers who replied “My faith/spirituality is important to me,” most likely vote Republican?

Not quite.

As it turns out, the percentage of religiously unaffiliated Democrats isn’t remarkably higher: only 14% of Democrats consider themselves either “Atheist,” “Agnostic” or believe in “Nothing in particular.”

This shows something we’ve observed throughout the analysis of this study: even the trends and values that end up being mostly strongly correlated with one half of the voting public affect the other half of the voting public significantly.

When it comes to values of all sorts—those that can be best described as traditional, those that signal selflessness and altruism, and even those that indicate strong ambition and hunger for success—we’ve learned that stated values don’t necessarily correspond with voting practices.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1zQ7RoPlLnUY_XSIKGlACZFv64OM67WmHKo568juTF9c/edit#gid=788261264We take that as an indication of a few things: that American ad filterers are an eclectic group, who feel that a number of aspects in their lives are all worthy of value, that values exist independent of political parties, and that certain values are considered important across the board, whether you count yourself as Democrat, Republican, or independent.

***

AAX is devoted to knowing everything there is to know about ad filterers. In one previous study we looked into what makes this demographic unique, another study examined their purchasing habits, and our most recent study dug deep into ad filterer motivation: the reasons ad filterers avoid advertisements, and how and why those reasons change.

Our passion for all things ad filterer is why we’ve turned our attention to an issue that’s capturing everyone’s attention: ad filterers’ political profiles. We’ve looked through the fascinating findings over at the GlobalWebIndex (GWI) to compile a new study—American Ad Blocking Users’ Political Profile—available for free download in May 2022.

Are Ad Blocking Users Success-Driven?

When we talk about values, and how these values impact and inspire voting habits and political affiliation in any given demographic, we’re usually talking about selfless, altruistic values like building community, helping others before yourself, and helping the environment. (Interested in learning more? We talked a lot about these values and their relationship to political leanings in a recent post!)

But values are about more than helping others. Sometimes, they’re about helping yourself get ahead.

Values that revolve around success and self-interest motivate American ad filterers— the 95% of users that choose to run an ad blocker but have also consented to see ad—and reveal a striking fact: ad filterers are motivated to improve their lives and livelihoods.

In particular, ad filterers have a thirst for knowledge. They never want to stop learning. More than 2/3 of American ad filterers are inspired to keep acquiring new skills, answering affirmatively that “Learning new skills is important to me.”

They’re also interested in being successful (59%) and in challenging themselves (57.4%). But notably, they’re not in it for the attention: only 15% of ad filterers value “standing out in a crowd.”

So what inferences can we draw from this data?

How Do Republicans and Democrats View Success?

The definition of “success” varies depending on who you ask—as do the meanings behind “challenging yourself” and “learning new skills.” We turned to Pew Research for a little more information on what values, and what the definitions of personal challenge, skills, and success, might mean for Democrats and Republicans.

And we found that similar groups of values are at the core of both Democrats and Republicans’ list of what gives meaning to life.

These are listed as “material well-being, stability, and quality of life,” and “occupation and career,” by Pew, and both rank 3rd and 4th (out of a total of 5) for people across the political spectrum. (Source)

When asked which values gave life meaning, 21% of Democrats answered, “material well-being, stability, and quality of life,” placing it as the 3rd most important cluster of values. 19% of Democrats answered, “occupation and career,” meaning it ranked in 4th place.

Interestingly, these categories were ranked identically by Republicans. 17% of Republican voters felt that “material well-being, stability, and quality of life” gave meaning to their lives, and 17% of Republican voters felt “occupation and career” did.

We know that slightly more American ad filterers vote Democrat than Republican—although many are undecided or vote independent as well—so this data isn’t altogether surprising. Slightly more than half of ad filterers find success-driven values, a value set deemed marginally more vital for giving meaning to life by Democrats than by Republicans, “important to me.”

***

AAX is devoted to knowing everything there is to know about ad filterers. In one previous study we looked into what makes this demographic unique, another study examined their purchasing habits, and our most recent study dug deep into ad filterer motivation: the reasons ad filterers avoid advertisements, and how and why those reasons change.

Our passion for all things ad filterer is why we’ve turned our attention to an issue that’s capturing everyone’s attention: ad filterers’ political profiles. We’ve looked through the fascinating findings over at the GlobalWebIndex (GWI) to compile a new study—American Ad Blocking Users’ Political Profile—available for free download in May 2022.

How Selfless Are Ad Blocking Users?

Politics isn’t just about Democrat vs. Republican.

Political decisions are predominantly values-based, especially among undecided voters, voters considering a change in political party allegiance, or voters that don’t have a strong tradition of voting one way or another.

That’s why AAX wanted to look into the nuances of the values that ad filterers, the 95% of users that choose to run an ad blocker but have also consented to see ads.

We took a look at some of the altruistic values that ad filterers hold. It’s an interesting split:
more than half of ad filterers are concerned about helping others and helping the environment, and less than half are concerned with feeling accepted and contributing to their immediate community.

The question was phrased in terms of importance: which of the following things are important to you. The possible categories?

    • Contributing to my community

    • Feeling accepted by others

    • Helping others before myself

    • Helping the environment

The last two categories saw positive response rates of 56.1% and 54.5%, respectively. The first two sections? 46% and 37.6%.

Is Altruism Politicized?

And, although finding these altruistic values important doesn’t necessarily correlate with voting either Democrat or Republican, there is a link between several of these stated values and an overall pattern of party allegiance.

For example, as stated by Pew Research, “trust in climate scientists is low among Republicans; considerably higher among liberal Democrats.” Belief in climate change is similarly politically charged: only 15% of conservative and 34% of moderate Republicans believe that “Earth is warming due to human activity,” whereas 63% of moderate Democrats and 79% of liberal Democrats believe the same. (Source)

Altruism, it seems, runs the gamut, from being seemingly universal and unconnected to any particular political party or affiliation to being deeply politicized and particularly attached to allegiance to either Democrats or Republicans.

***

AAX is devoted to knowing everything there is to know about ad filterers. In one previous study we looked into what makes this demographic unique, another study examined their purchasing habits, and our most recent study dug deep into ad filterer motivation: the reasons ad filterers avoid advertisements, and how and why those reasons change.

Our passion for all things ad filterer is why we’ve turned our attention to an issue that’s capturing everyone’s attention: ad filterers’ political profiles. We’ve looked through the fascinating findings over at the GlobalWebIndex (GWI) to compile a new study—American Ad Blocking Users’ Political Profile—available for free download in May 2022.

AAX Integrates With Amazon Publisher Services To Facilitate Easy Access To Industry Leading Ad-Block Monetization Solution

AAX, the industry leader in permission-based monetization solutions for ad-blocked inventory, now enables media companies and content owners to integrate its solution directly from within the Amazon Publisher Services (APS) platform.

AAX works with ad-blocking companies to reach consumers who deploy ad blockers but who have opted-in to be shown ads they deem acceptable. Using AAX, publishers can monetize valuable audiences which previously represented lost revenue. This new incremental revenue source can now be unlocked in a few simple clicks in the APS Connection Marketplace.
By embedding AAX into APS, customers don’t have to add additional code. They can generate substantial, incremental revenue by converting readers that used to cost them money into readers that make them money,” noted AAX’s CEO, Scott Schwanbeck.

The use of ad blockers remains on the rise as users become increasingly frustrated by intrusive ads, more aware of dubious data collection practices and more sophisticated in leveraging ad-blocking tools. AAX has developed a robust but easy-to-use solution that lets publishers fairly and honestly generate revenue for the content they create while at the same time putting users in control of the ads they see – a win-win in terms of mitigating negative browsing experiences.

Our goal is to make our solution as easy to access as it can be and to build a bridge to users who see and feel the need to deploy ad blockers,” added Schwanbeck. “Our globally distributed team will continue to develop alliances around the world with key industry players like Amazon as part of our larger, overall mission of enabling publishers to use our tech however is most convenient, efficient, and effective for them.

The AAX solution is fully live with-in the APS Connections Marketplace. For more information, please contact your APS Representative or reach out to us directly at: aaxmedia.dxdemos.online/contact-us.