According to new data from eMarketer, ad blocking in the US will continue to cause headwinds for online advertisers, as the phenomenon is expected to grow by double digits this year and next. In 2016, 69.8 million Americans will use an ad blocker, a jump of 34.4% over last year. Next year, that figure will grow another 24.0% to 86.6 million people.
US Ad Blocking Users and Penetration | |||
Year | Users MM | % Change | % of Internet Users |
2014 | 39.7MM | 61.5% | 15.7% |
2015 | 51.9 | 30.7 | 20.0 |
2016 | 69.8 | 34.4 | 26.3 |
2017 | 86.6 | 24.4 | 32.0 |
Source: eMarketer, June 2016 |
The report defines an ad blocking user as an internet user who accesses the internet at least once a month via any device that has an ad blocker enabled. This year in the US, 26.3% of internet users, more than one in five people in general, will use an ad blocker.
eMarketer senior analyst, Paul Verna, says “… ad blocking is a detriment to the entire advertising ecosystem… affecting publishers, marketers, agencies, and others whose businesses depend on ad revenue… to tackle this problem… deliver compelling ad experiences that consumers won’t want to block…”
This year, 63.2 million people will use an ad blocker on their desktop or laptop PC, vs. 20.7 million on their smartphone. 90.5% of ad blocking users will block ads on desktops and laptops, while just 29.7% will do so on smartphones. (There is overlap among the groups, notes the report)
US Ad Blocking Users (MM) And Penetration by Device (% Web Users) | ||||
Device | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 |
Desktop/laptop ad blocking users | 38.0MM | 48.6 | 63.2 | 77.1 |
% of internet users | 15.0% | 18.7 | 23.8 | 28.5 |
Smartphone ad blocking users | 7.2MM | 12.8 | 20.7 | 29.7 |
% of internet users | 2.8% | 4.9 | 7.8 | 11.0 |
Total ad blocking users | 39.7MM | 51.9 | 69.8 | 86.6 |
% of internet users | 15.7% | 20.0 | 26.3 | 32.0 |
Source: eMarketer, June 2016 (Internet user, any age, access Web ≥ 1X/month, on any device w/blocker enabled) |
Verna continues “Ad blocking is more common on desktops and laptops because screen sizes are large enough to accommodate multiple ads. This includes videos… out of view but still audible… especially annoying to users… ad blockers typically don’t work on apps, where users spend most of their mobile internet time…”
The number of people using smartphone ad blockers will jump 62.3% this year, while the number of PC-based ad blocking users will grow 30.1%, concludes the report.
For additional information from eMarketer, please visit here.
I always laugh when I see that advertisers must "deliver compelling ad experiences" as if an unsolicited interruption could ever be construed as compelling (except that audiences used to be compelled to view ads).