Web pages and content are loading faster following the arrival of GDPR, according to a new analysis from Catchpoint and Marketing Dive.
Numerous studies in recent years have indicated that consumers will not tolerate long loading times and are eager to consume fast and snappy content across the web. While GDPR has caused upheaval in recent weeks, publishers will be pleased to hear that their streamlined online hubs are performing better.
The UK version of USA Today, for example, loaded in just 0.42 seconds, compared to a rather long 9.86 seconds for the US version. These quicker times are due to the removal of ad servers, plugins, Google analytics and services, and other features that generally slow down page load times.
Readers will be happy that they can access content in quick time, but it is not clear whether the stronger user experience will be viable for brands in the long term as they are unable to monetise blogs, articles, videos and other content without ads.
GDPR has made it more difficult for brands to serve up targeted ads due to more stringent regulations for data gathering, and marketers and advertisers will be attempting to make sense of the new rules as they update and overhaul their strategies moving forward.
For the time being, many international outlets are opting not to feature ads on EU sites at all for fear of falling foul of GDPR penalties, which can run up to 4% of global revenue, while others such as the Los Angeles Times are blocking access to European users entirely.
