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Attention: Push traffic will crash next week (14)

04-23-2019 06:07 PM #1 twinaxe (Senior Moderator)
Attention: Push traffic will crash next week

Ok, the title is little bit exaggerated but today I received the new WhaTheAff newsletter and there was an interesting article from Zorbas Media linked.
Seems Mozilla and Google now start to think about ways to restrict Push notifications.

You can read it here

https://zorbasmedia.com/google-and-m...notifications/

04-23-2019 06:29 PM #2 thepinkcat (Senior Member)

Did more searching and found something interesting mentioned here: https://gadgets.ndtv.com/apps/news/m...n-spam-2017176

The post above includes a link to one of Chrome's software engineers on Twitter. They are thinking of limiting push notification subscription boxes to appear only on websites with high engagement, or with Progressive Webapps. This is the thread: https://twitter.com/slightlylate/sta...72643356114944

And it looks like based on his website's about page, he really is a Google engineer https://infrequently.org/about-me/

I don't think this will entirely kill push traffic but it does seem the webpush side would have a dramatic loss of new subscribers if these changes went into effect. Either way based on Mozilla's browser tests plus this Chrome engineer it does seem like the browsers are aware and actively working on clamping down so it feels this isn't really "if", but "when". In the meantime milk the cow

04-23-2019 07:44 PM #3 matuloo (Legendary Moderator)

I think we were all expecting something to happen, many respondents also mentioned this in the "Whats working in 2019" report. The only question is, how dramatic the changes would be

04-24-2019 02:40 AM #4 maynzie (Moderator)

Definitely going to be interesting,

In the meantime milk the cow
agreed :P

04-24-2019 06:51 AM #5 Mr Green (Administrator)

Quote Originally Posted by thepinkcat View Post
Did more searching and found something interesting mentioned here: https://gadgets.ndtv.com/apps/news/m...n-spam-2017176

The post above includes a link to one of Chrome's software engineers on Twitter. They are thinking of limiting push notification subscription boxes to appear only on websites with high engagement, or with Progressive Webapps. This is the thread: https://twitter.com/slightlylate/sta...72643356114944

And it looks like based on his website's about page, he really is a Google engineer https://infrequently.org/about-me/

I don't think this will entirely kill push traffic but it does seem the webpush side would have a dramatic loss of new subscribers if these changes went into effect. Either way based on Mozilla's browser tests plus this Chrome engineer it does seem like the browsers are aware and actively working on clamping down so it feels this isn't really "if", but "when". In the meantime milk the cow
Finally, someone who is checking sources! Thanks for doing this.

04-24-2019 07:12 AM #6 erikgyepes (Moderator)

Firefox is a minor player here.

Everything will depend how Google will approach it.

I barely think they will kill push.

It brings back people back to their browser, which I believe makes Google pretty happy.

If they will choose the site engagement score, what could happen is that it will be much harder to get subscribers (this could also drive CPCs even higher), so the aggressive ways of "subscribe to view this video" or "subscribe to verify that you are human" etc. won't work unless the users engage enough with the page (though I believe creative folks will find a way).

Let's see how it unfolds.

In the meantime grab a popcorn and milk the cow!

04-24-2019 07:39 AM #7 manu_adefy (Veteran Member)

Quote Originally Posted by erikgyepes View Post

If they will choose the site engagement score, what could happen is that it will be much harder to get subscribers (this could also drive CPCs even higher), so the aggressive ways of "subscribe to view this video" or "subscribe to verify that you are human" etc. won't work unless the users engage enough with the page (though I believe creative folks will find a way).
That kind of kills it for most affiliates though so it's going to be about putting more thought into giving users something they want for real not just one time and not just about that effective angle.

That can also be a big hit on ad networks who don't properly manage their lists because they will struggle to get new people in.

04-24-2019 08:16 AM #8 kramnave (Member)

Correct me if I'm wrong but with push notifications, we can always opt out of getting notifications. Its not like we have to install a blocker or something. There is a choice of accepting or blocking.
Thus for those who are happy to receive notifications, its business as usual and for those that are pissed off, just do not accept any. Therefore, I'm wondering what will be the compelling reason for Google to restrict them.

04-24-2019 08:29 AM #9 twinaxe (Senior Moderator)

On my blog I also posted some thoughts about it.
I also don't think it will get killed completely, also many reliable websites use these notifications to update their users on new posts.
But I guess we all can agree that sooner or later probably something happens to restrict it in some way.
And as bad as it could be for many people it also could open new possibilities.
Less spammy = higher quality.
Just check spypush and see what others are running, some of the stuff looks worse than Pop campaigns.
Let's compare it with FB, I ran very shady stuff there in 2009-2010 without cloaking or so.
When they killed an account I just made a new one and continued.
Then they started to crack down on VCCs and vouchers and stuff and the good times ended.
Nowadays there are still people killing it on FB.
So even when the Push goldrush ends it probably will stay as a good marketing channel, just not anymore for every spammy stuff you can imagine.

04-24-2019 08:47 AM #10 manu_adefy (Veteran Member)

Quote Originally Posted by kramnave View Post
Correct me if I'm wrong but with push notifications, we can always opt out of getting notifications. Its not like we have to install a blocker or something. There is a choice of accepting or blocking.
Thus for those who are happy to receive notifications, its business as usual and for those that are pissed off, just do not accept any. Therefore, I'm wondering what will be the compelling reason for Google to restrict them.
Advertisers can use misleading ways to convince users to opt in. Then those people get spammed and blame Chrome/Google. Thus, Google will look to crack down on certain methods to gather push subscribers.

It's the same story all the time. Spam email didn't use to be spam, search had fewer rules, display ads, etc. Push is going through the same

04-24-2019 08:58 AM #11 twinaxe (Senior Moderator)

Spam email didn't use to be spam, search had fewer rules, display ads, etc. Push is going through the same
Amen

04-24-2019 10:06 AM #12 matuloo (Legendary Moderator)

Quote Originally Posted by manu_adefy View Post
Advertisers can use misleading ways to convince users to opt in. Then those people get spammed and blame Chrome/Google. Thus, Google will look to crack down on certain methods to gather push subscribers.

It's the same story all the time. Spam email didn't use to be spam, search had fewer rules, display ads, etc. Push is going through the same
Yup, and on top of this, MANY people have no idea how to disable the pushes they gave permissions for. This is where I personally expect to see some changes first, to make the management options easier to find or educate people more on how to find these options. Or some double-optin kind of thing will get required for new subscriptions. As others mentioned, there are many valid uses for the push notifications, but it kinda got out of hand lately and people are complaining and blaming it on the browsers.

04-24-2019 01:21 PM #13 cosmik (Member)

Will this only affect the collection of data, or will it change the notifications actually reaching users that have already accepted?

04-24-2019 01:37 PM #14 twinaxe (Senior Moderator)

Time will tell.
I guess the way how users are collected will change but I could also imagine a cap how many messages can be sent per site per user to prevent spammy misuse.

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