Join us Sept. 14-16 in Miami to connect with top publishing leaders
Another day, another ad blocking report is triggering heartburn in publishers and agencies.
The number of people in the U.S. using an ad blocker is expected to balloon to 86.6 million in 2017, according to eMarketer. That’s a staggering increase of 24 percent from this year, where the research company predicts that 69.8 million people will use an ad blocker by the end of 2016.
Active ad blocker use, which eMarketer defines as people who access the internet once a month with the tool, is still more prevalent on desktop browsers rather than on mobile because there are more intrusive ads on desktop’s larger screens, and people tend to spend more time on mobile apps.
“In fact, 90.5 percent of ad blocking users will block ads on desktops and laptops, while just 29.7 percent will do so on smartphones,” the report states, noting that the overlapping number is because some people use an ad blocker on both desktop and on smartphones.
Ad blocking isn’t going away, surmises eMarkerter senior analyst Paul Verna. The news should spur publishers, marketers and agencies that rely on advertising to “deliver compelling ad experiences that consumers won’t want to block,” he said.
If there isn’t a fix, publishers could stand to lose $35 billion in revenue by 2020. The report from eMarketer mirrors that of a recent global study of ad blockers conducted by Reuters, which found that the utility is growing in popularity across the globe.
More in Media
An anatomy of the creator brand trip’s midlife crisis
The brand trip as we know it may be dead, but a newer, more genuine and engaging format is rising from its ashes.
European publishers are getting hit harder by AI bot scraping, report finds
European publishers face more AI bot scraping, fewer referrals and more ignored robots.txt rules than North American sites, report finds.
Walmart-backed gaming publication lays off editorial team
Brandy Berthelson — who had been Restart’s editor-in-chief — said on Bluesky last Friday that the “entire editorial team” at Restart was laid off.