Research Focus: Online User Behavior; Ad-blocking Technologies; Digital Strategy; Online Advertising 

Research Methods: Empirical Methods; Econometrics; Machine Learning

DISSERTATION

• Dissertation Topic :  Ad-blocking Technologies and the Internet Economy

• Dissertation Committee (in alphabetical order): 

Vilma Todri (Chair), Panagiotis Adamopoulos, Jesse Bockstedt, Ramnath K. Chellappa, Anindya Ghose

RESEARCH IN PROGRESS

1. “Demanding a Better Online Experience: Why Users Adopt Ad-blockers?” (with Vilma Todri) [Presented at WISE 2023, Hyderabad, India]

Ad-blocking technologies pose a potential threat to the digital ecosystem and the primary revenue model that drives the Internet economy. To negate the adverse effects of ad-blockers, however, it is crucial to understand what drives the widespread adoption of these technologies. This paper seeks to address this notable gap in the literature by exploring the key factors that prompt users to adopt ad-blocking technologies, with a particular focus on negative online experiences stemming from publishers' choices. Specifically, I examine the influence of advertising load and third-party cookies on users’ decisions to install ad-blocking technologies, and I also investigate the related potential underlying mechanisms. While ad load is essential for publishers to provide high-quality content, our findings highlight that increasing ad load increases the chances of adopting ad-blocking technologies, demonstrating the nuanced challenges publishers face. Similarly, though third-party cookies are vital technologies to enhance the informativeness and relevance of ads, our findings indicate that an increase in the number of third-party cookies increases the likelihood of ad-blocker adoption. These findings also yield significant managerial implications for online publishers, digital ad networks, and online advertisers seeking to combat ad-blocking technologies’ adverse effects, as well as important policy implications for regulators aiming to enhance online consumer experiences.

2. “Blocking Ad-blocking Technologies: Protecting the Business Model that Drives the Internet Economy” (with Vilma Todri) [Presented at WISE 2022, Copenhagen, Denmark]

To counteract the adverse effects of ad-blockers, online publishers have started to employ anti-ad-blocking strategies that prompt web visitors who employ ad-blocking technologies to disable them. In this paper, I examine the impact of the increasingly popular anti-ad-blocking strategies within the Internet economy. Specifically, this paper examines whether and when anti-ad-blocking tactics affect user engagement. Interestingly, the analyses reveal that, after a user has been exposed to an anti-ad-blocking message from the publisher, the user’s engagement with the corresponding website decreases. That is, while anti-ad-blocking strategies are designed to encourage ad-blocker users to whitelist or uninstall ad-blockers, they are ineffective in doing so and, on average, hurt user engagement. Furthermore, I find that anti-ad-blocking techniques have a differential impact on user engagement depending, for instance, on  website quality. Intriguingly, the results reveal that anti-ad-blocking strategies have additional unintended consequences since they seem to increase the ad-blocker users’ engagement with the competitors’ websites. This study makes significant contributions by addressing a critical gap in the literature and extending our understanding of the effects of anti-ad-blocking techniques and their potential impact on the Internet economy. At the same time, the study yields important practical implications for publishers, digital advertisers, and the rest of the online advertising ecosystem.

3. “On the Threat of Digital Advertising: Do Advertising Scheduling Strategies Affect the Adoption of Ad-blocking Technologies?” (with Vilma Todri)

Digital advertising has become an important and effective communication channel between advertisers and customers as the digital advertising market has grown substantially over the recent years. Because many businesses and advertisers rely on digital advertising to deliver information on their products and services, the increasing prevalence of ad-blockers decreases the reach of online advertising and increases the cost of effective ads. Meanwhile, anecdotal evidence suggests that advertisers might engage in questionable advertising practices that could create bad user experiences and motivate users to install ad-blocking technologies. While the repetition of an ad campaign can increase content recognition and brand familiarity, excessive ad repetition can trigger annoyance. Hence, focusing on the perspective of advertisers, I investigate what type of advertising practices and scheduling decisions might contribute to the installation of ad-blockers. I especially focus on the impact of ad frequency, ad variety, and advertisers’ brand familiarity on installing ad-blockers. This study aims to gain a deep understanding of the antecedents of ad-blocking technologies and their potential impact on the Internet economy from the perspectives of users and advertisers.

4. “The Impact of Cloud Computing on Entrepreneurship” (with Vilma Todri)

Cloud computing has the potential to reduce IT entry barriers, enabling individuals, startups, and small and medium-sized enterprises to meet the needs for IT infrastructure efficiently and flexibly. Despite the widespread adoption of cloud computing and its potential to facilitate entrepreneurship, surprisingly little is known about the impact of cloud computing on fostering entrepreneurship. This paper addresses this important research gap by examining the impact of cloud computing technologies on fueling entrepreneurship, especially tech-oriented entrepreneurship. The empirical analyses yield significant policy and business implications related to cloud computing technologies and the entrepreneurial ecosystem.

RESEARCH METHODS