Consumers in Europe are more likely to block ads, but the United States isn't far behind. About 26% of U.S. consumers use some sort of ad-blocking software, according to data released Monday. And
soon, Google will give consumers another way to block ads, through its Chrome browser scheduled to launch in 2018.
The OnAudience.com study reveals the use of ad blockers continues to rise in
the U.S., with 26% of consumers now using them, up from 22% in 2016. OnAudience.com estimates a loss of more than $15.8 billion in publisher revenue, up from nearly $11 billion last year. The U.S.
contributes just under $45 billion to the $100 billion global display market.
Internationally, the loss of publisher revenue from ad blocking rose to $42 billion -- up from $28 billion in
2016. At the time, the worldwide display market was valued at $84 billion.
eMarketer in March 2017 reported a slightly lower number -- with about 28% of U.S. consumer-blocking ads on
desktop and laptop, and 11.8% do so on a smartphone.
The results from the U.S. reflect a broad increase globally in ad blocking, although consumers in Europe are most likely to block ads, with
32% of internet users in the region using ad-blocker plugins.
Poland has the highest rates at 46%, followed by Greece at 44%, Norway at 42%, Germany at 41%, and Denmark at 40%. The UK, the
Netherlands, and Ireland all rank at 39%.
Internet users in Japan are equally as likely as consumers in the U.S. to block ads, at 26%, but the lowest rates were found in Latin America.
Paraguay recorded the least ad-blocked page views at 5%, while Peru and Venezuela scored the second- and third-lowest ad-blocking rates globally at 13% and 10%, respectively.
Maciej Sawa,
chief commercial officer at OnAudience.com, does not believe enough is being done to resolve the issue for the industry.
The report also analyzes the impact of ad-blocking on the e-commerce
industry, revealing that more than $600 billion -- in a market worth $2 billion -- is generated globally by users with ad blockers installed.