Dive Brief:
- The IAB and YouGov research found that ad block tech usage in the UK fell from 21.7% to 21.2% since February, a drop that falls well within the noise zone of any statistical model.
- Mobile Marketing Magazine reports that the drop in ad block usage comes from males dropping usage from 30% to 27%.
- The same survey found that a majority of people understood the value exchange of free content for ads, with 67% of respondents reporting understanding that content is fueled by advertising on the webpage and 55% of those respondents agreeing that ad blocking will make a dent in free content.
Dive Insight:
The research has insiders wondering if ad block tech has hit a ceiling. The IAB and YouGov research found that 22% of users who downloaded ad block software no longer use it, although the most common reason is moving to a new device (21%) with the inability to access content running a close second (18%).
EMarketer also surveyed the UK marketplace and found different results. In April it projected ad block adoption rate of 27% this year.
"There’s no doubting that ad blocking is now a very real issue for advertisers. Next year, over a quarter of the people they're trying to reach will be willfully making themselves unreachable," EMarketer Senior Analyst Bill Fisher said about the findings.
A fix, if it’s not too late, might be giving the end user more control over the types of ads they are presented on desktop, and particularly on mobile devices.
“Getting mobile ads right is a delicate balance – even consumers have mixed feelings about what they like,” Mike Reynolds, the IAB UK’s mobile and video manager, said in a statement. “For instance, ads with higher impact can be more annoying, while relevant ads based on location or behavior are welcomed but may raise privacy concerns."