Yahoo’s Mayer: “It’s A Mistake To Install Ad Blockers”

Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer took center stage during Monday’s IAB MIXX conference in NYC, and told the audience that she thinks it’s a mistake for internet users to install ad blockers.

Near the end of her conversation with The Slate Group chairman and editor-in-chief Jacob Weisberg, Mayer weighed in on the hottest topic in the marketing industry today.

“I personally think it’s a mistake to install ad blockers,” Mayer said. She says Yahoo has ads that work and make for a better internet experience, adding to the content versus taking away from it. According to Mayer, ad blockers result in the loss of a rich, full experience of the Web. “I want to make sure to keep monetization models vibrant,” said Mayer. “It’s about transparency, choice and control.”

She also touted Yahoo’s capabilities as a mobile company and its focus to “inform, connect and entertain” its users.

“Today, we really want to be the mobile guide,” said Mayer, claiming her company is still in the midst of a renaissance.

Mayer offered a laundry list of stats from Flurry, the mobile analytics company Yahoo acquired in July of last year, noting that 90 percent of the time spent on smart devices is spent in apps, with 50 percent of the time in apps split between messaging and entertainment apps. She also said there are 280 million “mobile addicts” in the world — users who interact with apps more than six times a day.

“Apps are really where the heat is,” said Mayer. She said Yahoo sees 600 million active mobile users a month.

When it comes to mobile revenue, Mayer said she believes native ads are the best way to monetize mobile content.

Turning the conversation to Yahoo’s video plans, Weisberg asked whether or not Yahoo could support the high cost of its video content, noting the company’s hiring of Katie Couric and recent deal to livestream NFL events.

“We think there’s tremendous demand from advertisers for video,” said Mayer. She went on to say Yahoo’s acquisition of the video platform Brightroll has made it possible for her company to aggregate many different sites, Yahoo included, and sell video packages that ultimately meet advertiser’ objectives.

“It almost works like cable television,” said Mayer of Yahoo’s video advertising offerings.

IAB shared the following video of the conversation on its YouTube channel: