From WhatsApp to Alexa : why the ad-free era is over

So-called "native advertising" online, where advertising is presented in a similar way to editorial, has failed to take off. A US study last year from Stanford University found native advertising is no better at getting us to buy than standard online ads. "Consumers are very good at filtering out messages," explains Lisa Du-Lieu, a senior lecturer in marketing at Huddersfield University. "If you don't get their attention within the first couple of seconds, it just bounces off them." For that reason, brands are shifting their attention to platforms and formats that they know we are engaged with.