‘Fear of ad blocking for advertisers & marketers is dead’

An entrepreneur from the domain parking business, Lavin Punjabi, President and CEO, Affinity Global Inc, broke all barriers to heavily penetrate into the ad-tech industry. Started in 2006, Affinity has changed the traditional and monotonous way of advertising on the internet. Lavin Punjabi gives a broad overview of the ad-tech industry and its future while elaborating on what makes the company stand out amidst competition.

1. What makes Affinity different from the other ad-tech companies?

First, we are built around ad-tech with our business units— mCanvas, a creative advertising arm for mobile platforms; VeVe, a performance marketing platform; SitePlug, a performance marketing platform that autocorrects browsing errors; YieldSolutions, a programmatic-based product for publishers, and AdOpsOne, an ads operation assistant for publishers to resolve their complex operational problems. We have an ad server for the search syndication process as a company without it can’t be called an ad-tech company. Secondly, a very important pillar is user experience, a very delicate subject which matters the most for engaging audience. We make advertisements a fun experience. Transparency, being user-friendly and privacy-friendly are other important aspects of our business which make us unique. We are building an ad-tech company that does not interfere with users’ privacy and that’s rare.

2. How much growth in terms of revenue is Affinity looking forward to as compared to last year?

From last year to this year, we have reported over 100% business growth. Today, we are driving transactions worth billions of dollars for brands. 1,500 unique brands that work with us globally and the value they get from advertising are driving transactions worth billions of dollars.

3. According to a recent e4m XAXISreport, 40.6% Asians use ad-blockers. How do marketers and advertisers tackle such challenges?

Advertisers are tackling these challenges by going native on apps where ads don’t look like ads or are annoying. A number of ad blockers work on mobile web and not on mobile applications. Most of these applications cannot block advertisements on major social media platforms. At least in India, I don’t think the percentage of usage of ad blockers is high. We are habituated to see advertisements in India. Moreover, ad-blockers are a farce, they show ads on their applications while assuring users of blocking other ads. Fear of ad blocking for advertisers and marketers is dead.

4. Do you think there is scope for advertisers and marketers to forge numbers on the internet through bots and coding software while conducting campaigns?

No, actually, in a way, it is a lot more transparent now. We have worked with various handset manufacturers, and they are very transparent and clean. The bot problem exists on the web browser. The measurement tools have become transparent, and it is handed over to third-party platforms. These platforms are independent agencies. The measurement system cannot be rigged and it tracks the traffic, which is later studied to understand its source. One cannot rig the process. For example, in India billions of dollars are spent for app install campaigns, and several strategies are made to make users download the applications. The third-party agency monitors the entire campaign, which gives no space either to the publisher or the advertiser to fake or manipulate the numbers. Adulteration of data is a thing of the past and new technology has brought transparency to the entire process.

5. Being one of the well-equipped ad-tech companies, what goals has Affinity set for the upcoming year?

We want to be the largest independent ad-tech company outside big tech companies not only in India but globally. We have hired10 people internationally and next year we will hire 50 more.