Optimize short description for the Chrome Web Store (and possibly other websites)

[annlee@adblockplus.org]

Change the short description that the user sees in the CWS search results page.

Background

The reasons for this change are as follows:

• highlight our popularity (50 million worldwide users)
• differentiate ourselves from the competition by highlighting malware/tracking features
• optimize for high traffic KWs - malware and tracking also happen to be high traffic KWs (other high traffic KWs are mentioned throughout the Details text, which will also be updated outside of this ticket)
• make sure users understand ABP blocks all annoying ads, not just on youtube or FB (this was a recurring issue in video testing)

What to change

Update the short description to use following text:

Used by over 50 million people, a free ad blocker for browser that blocks ALL annoying ads, malware and tracking.

to replace old text:

The free adblock tool for browser: Blocks annoying video ads on YouTube, Facebook ads, banners and much more.

where browser is "Chrome", "Opera" or "Safari" respectively

[sebastian]

What's about Opera and Safari? We used to have a similar text there.

[greiner]

I already clarified that before setting Platform to Chrome and modified the description text to explicitly state that only "description_chrome" should be modified.

[annlee@adblockplus.org]

the reasoning is stated in the background of the ticket, it's mainly a change to differentiate ourselves from the other ad blockers in the chrome store, a situation which isn't so applicable with the other browsers

[sebastian]

Please discuss such things in the issue were it belongs, and everybody can read and join the discussion.

I don't see why this only applies to Chrome. Our competitors are on Opera add-ons as well. And even if it's not important for Opera and Safari, is there a reason to justify an inconsistent description there?

[annlee@adblockplus.org]

the justification is that this description is specific for Chrome and for the specific competitive situation in the cws search results where we need to differentiate ourselves from the other ad blockers - i.e. we appear as one ad blocker in a list of ad blockers

the changes to the description are based on a combination of sources (i.e. page fair report about Chrome users, our own video user testing, KWs etc.), this is part of a larger effort to optimize our listing, including updating the full description, testing the images, reminding users to rate us etc.

consistency is important, however, it's not necessarily the deciding factor in every situation, in this case, we need specific messaging that will resonate with the Chrome audience...

this message may or may not be relevant to Opera or Safari, we would need to look at each situation, we can always make the change at a later time, or we may decide that each browser needs a slightly custom message, as long as the main ideas remain consistent

on that last point, consistency can be maintained even though the exact words are not the same, in other words, we can use slightly different wording for different situations, as long as the core values - ad blocking, acceptable ads, open source etc. - are consistent

[sebastian]

I understand that it might make sense to have descriptions customized beyond the browser name to better target the relevant audience. But since we didn't do any research on what performs best on Opera and Safari yet, and possibly will never do, why not using the new description there as well (in favor of consistency), until we know which description performs best there, to justify the inconsistency?

[annlee@adblockplus.org]

not sure how we'll be able to tell whether the description 'performs well' to be honest, we don't have any type of analytics set up for this, the description change for Chrome is technically not part of a test (we can't a/b test since it requires a release every time we change it), it's based on various data points, some qualitative and some quantitative, it's basically our best guess at this time for Chrome

one small example of differences in messaging...since Safari and Opera are both for Macs, and Mac users (myself being one) typically don't have as much fear about being attacked by viruses etc., so maybe the 'malware' wouldn't be so relevant in the description

that being said, my main goal is to update Chrome, I'm not against updating for all and seeing what happens, though keep in mind, there's no way we'll be able to tell which is 'best performing'

so the new messages would be:
Used by over 50 million people, a free ad blocker for Opera that blocks ALL annoying ads, malware and tracking.
Used by over 50 million people, a free ad blocker for Safari that blocks ALL annoying ads, malware and tracking.

[sebastian]

​https://hg.adblockplus.org/adblockpluschrome/rev/e4ad6d9824ea

The new description will show on the Chrome Web Store (and Opera add-ons) with the next release.

[annlee@adblockplus.org]

thanks Sebastian