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Request to Ad-Block

Guidelines and steps for requesting an ad-block during major news events.

Sometimes there are major news events that qualify for a reasonable request of blocking advertising placements either permanently on specific articles, or temporarily across content themes or topics. These events can range from humanitarian crisis and natural disasters through to the death of public figures and even high profile cases within our communities.

Before you submit a request to ad-block, there are some questions you'll need to consider.

  • Are we receiving a high number of requests from our advertisers to block ads? It is typical for some clients to request we block their creative specifically. This can be for many reasons, such as an incident or tragic event having a direct relevance to the advertisers product or service. In this case we already have protocols in place. For our direct-buys we can and do manage exclusions already. These should continue to be managed case-by-case as programmatic media buys are controlled directly by the advertiser.
  • Are we getting reader/listener feedback across social media for NZME brand's relating to our advertisers and/or monetisation of the event? A good indication of how the public perceive the moral obligation of media publishers will be determined by the feedback we're receiving, and how much. If NZME is receiving overwhelming commentary from the our communities about their distaste for our monetisation of the story we need to take a considered view – the first step would be to flag this with your manager.
  • What would the revenue impact be if we disabled advertising on the articles and/or topics? Before you raise a request to ad-block, you'll need to know what the potential impact on revenue will be. This can either be direct revenue, or programmatic and you should work alongside your manager to understand the revenue risk first. Do this by talking to the programmatic team, ad-ops, ad-tech and data teams.

How to Request the Ad-Block

Step 1: Understand the revenue implication, technical requirements first you should set up a quick teams chat with the following people and get a snapshot of the impact.

| Name           | Department  | Email                          |
|---------------|-------------|--------------------------------|
| Andy Wylie    | Data        | Andy.wylie@nzme.co.nz |
| Ella Fitton   | Ad-Tech     | Ella.fitton@nzme.co.nz |
| Shawn Xia     | Ad-Tech     | Shawn.xia@nzme.co.nz |
| Max Havaux    | Programmatic| Max.havaux@nzme.co.nz |
| Mel Evans     | Programmatic| Melissa.evans@nzme.co.nz |
| Greg Lockton  | Ad-Ops      | Greg.lockton@nzme.co.nz |

Step 2: Written approval via email required from one of the following exec team.

| Name           | Department  | Email                          |
|---------------|-------------|--------------------------------|
| Carolyn Luey  | Exec        | Carolyn.luey@nzme.co.nz |
| Paul Hancox   | Exec        | Paul.hancox@nzme.co.nz |
| Shayne Currie | Exec        | Shayne.currie@nzme.co.nz |

Use the following template when requesting approval

| Request                | Summary of the request i.e. what content to block ads, and why. |
|-----------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------|
| Start Date            | Start date and time the request will take effect              |
| End Date              | If there is an end date for the ad-block, if no end date then explain why. |
| Estimated Revenue Impact | Based on the assumed number of impressions we could serve programmatic revenue and/or the number of direct placements impacted. |
| Reason for Request    | Why are we requesting the ad-block? I.e. social media backlash, advertiser complaints or both. Please provide links to the sources. |
| Technical Implementation | How will the block be implemented? Is it from applying negative keywords or a change to the template? |

Step 3: Inform Editorial and Commercial Leaders via email.

| Name                 | Department                  | Email                          |
|---------------------|-----------------------------|--------------------------------|
| Shayne Currie       | Editorial - Exec            | Shayne.currie@nzme.co.nz |
| Carolyn Luey        | Digital & Publishing - Exec | Carolyn.luey@nzme.co.nz |
| Shayne Currie       | Commercial - Exec           | Shayne.currie@nzme.co.nz |
| Greg McCrea         | Commercial Agency           | Greg.mccrea@nzme.co.nz |
| Amanda Cox          | Commercial Operations       | Amanda.cox@nzme.co.nz |
| Jason Nockels       | Digital Revenue Products    | Jason.nockels@nzme.co.nz |
| Janine Tindall-Morice | Commercial Direct (South)  | Janine.tindall-morice@nzme.co.nz |
| Tom Gray            | Commercial Direct (North)   | Tom.gray@nzme.co.nz |
| Renata Hayward      | Commercial Direct (Auckland)| Renata.hayward@nzme.co.nz |