The Use of Mobile Ad Blockers is On The Rise

Oct 18, 2016 | Industry Updates

Mobile ad blocking usage has increased at a staggering 90 percent in the last year. 90 percent!

The usage is largely occurring in emerging markets, such as China and India, but nevertheless, the trend has the potential to completely disturb mobile advertising.

This comes from a report published by Blockmetry, a company that measures and measures ad blocking and analytics blocking. They’re able to capture the number of page views stopped by ad blockers; versus viewers.

Here’s how prevalent ad blocking has become on a global scale:

Ad-Blocking-Comparison

  • Mobile is 30.9% of web traffic; 62.9% is impacted by ad blocking.
  • Desktop is 50.6% of web traffic; 21% is impacted by ad blocking.
  • Tablets are 9.5% of web traffic; 4.4% is impacted by ad blocking.

And, apparently iPhone users and Android users approach ad blocking with the same equal opportunity perspective—there’s no difference in blocking between the two groups.

But ad blocking is sharply on the rise in areas where internet users need to be especially cognizant internet speed and data usage. Blocking ads leads to fast-loading webpages, which has never disappointed anyone.

However, the U.S. isn’t too far behind. Monthly active users of ad blocking software crept up 50 percent in just the last year.

 

What can advertisers do about mobile ad blocking?

Advertisers are going to have to get creative, and finding a smart solution means each company needs to look how hard they’re being hit specifically.

If ad blocking rates continue to rise, Business Insider estimates that U.S. digital media companies could lose $9.7 billion.

“Ad blocking poses a major threat to digital media companies that depend on advertising for revenue. If ad blocking on mobile reaches desktop levels, US digital media companies could lose out on as much as $9.7 billion across digital ad formats next year, according to BI Intelligence estimates based on current usage rates.”

Here’s a few ideas on how to get ads in front of your viewers’ eyeballs:

  1. Make ads worth viewing: Don’t just slap ads up on your website, that is, without serious consideration as to what’s going to truly entice and please your customers. Advertising, when done well, won’t necessarily feel intrusive. They may be appreciated as an additional experience layer.
  2. Up your content game. Give users something that makes viewing an ad worthwhile.
  3. Force the issue. Some advertisers are going the pay-to-view route, or are forcing viewers to uninstall ad blockers if they wish to view their content. Tell people to turn off the ad blocker if they want to enjoy your amazing content.

Do you have a strategy for dealing with mobile ad blockers? If so, we’d love to hear it! Share your strategy on Twitter or Facebook.