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

As we grow wiser to marketing, advertisers are finding new ways and places to plug products

We've weaned ourselves off banner advertisements, with a fifth of us using ad blockers in our internet browsers, according to research firm eMarketer. 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."