Americans broadly recognize, understand, trust, and support the ubiquitous blue triangular AdChoices icon that appears across ads, websites, and apps and provides access to information and choices about ads, according to a new survey conducted by the Digital Advertising Alliance (DAA). The survey found that approximately four out of five respondents recognize the AdChoices Icon, find it useful, say it is easy to understand, and want to continue to have access to icon-based information and choices about advertising.
“The AdChoices Icon program is one of the great success stories in modern advertising self-regulation,” said Lou Mastria, President & CEO of the DAA. “This simple privacy icon has become a trusted, real-time gateway for information and choices about advertising for millions of Americans, and this survey demonstrates that large majorities recognize it, understand it, support its continued and expanded use into new media, and trust the brands who use it.”
Among the findings of the DAA survey:
- Four in five respondents (79%) recognized the AdChoices Icon, with respondents saying they recognize it a great deal (45%) or somewhat (34%).
- Most respondents (53%) understood what the icon does, correctly saying it gives a person information and choices about the types of ads they receive.
- More than three-quarters (78%) said the AdChoices Icon is useful, with respondents saying it is very (24%) or somewhat (54%) useful.
- The vast majority (85%) said the AdChoices Icon is easy to understand, with respondents saying it is very (32%) or somewhat (53%) easy to understand.
- Almost three-quarters (72%) said the AdChoices Icon increases trust in the advertisers that use it, with respondents saying it increased trust a great deal (15%) or somewhat (57%).
- Three-quarters (78%) of respondents said it’s important to have access to simple icon-based information and choices about advertising, with respondents saying it is very (31%) or somewhat (47%) important.
- By more than a two-to-one margin, respondents preferred to use the existing AdChoices Icon over alternatives, with 72% saying AdChoices should be used for both existing and new choices about advertising vs. 28% saying different icons should be used.
- By a similar two-to-one margin, respondents said policymakers should encourage companies to use the AdChoices Icon (70%) vs. creating different icons/tools (30%).
- Three-quarters (75%) said the use of multiple icons would be confusing, saying it would be very (28%) or somewhat (47%) confusing if there were multiple icons that provided similar types of information/choices about advertising.
“In addition to validating our industry’s collaborative efforts around the AdChoices Icon, these findings also highlight the value of the AdChoices Icon as a universally-recognized tool for providing real-time access to advertising-related information and choices,” continued Mastria. “Over the last 14 years, companies across digital advertising have worked together to build, integrate, and expand the tools available to consumers through the ubiquitous AdChoices Icon, and we plan to build on that trusted relationship to provide new and expanded tools that continue to meet both consumer and business needs.”
The survey was conducted among 1,109 American adults via SurveyMonkey from February 17-24, 2024. Based on a confidence interval of 95 percent, the margin of error for the survey is +/- 3 percent. The full survey results are available on the DAA website
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