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The rise of Ad Blockers and their effect on your Retargeting and Digital Display ad campaigns

We’ve all become accustomed to seeing ads as we browse websites. It’s understood that if the site is not a subscription model, then it’s supported by advertising. But that doesn’t mean we like it and we often visually filter out the ‘noise’.

More people are turning to ad blockers to limit interruptions in their online experience. They’re also motivated to minimize ads in order to better manage their monthly allotment of mobile data. According to a recent article, ads can eat up to 79% of your monthly mobile data allowance. That’s a big chunk of your data plan.

A few stats:

In August of 2015, a study by PageFair and Adobe was published stating there were:

198 million active ad-blockers around the world.

20% of Canadians, 15% of Americans, 18% of Australians and depending on the country — between 10% and 37% of Europeans installed Adblockers.

In 2015, 43 million Americans actively used ad blocking software each month.

According to an Internet Trends Report, less than a year later (today, in 2016), the global use of Ad Blocking software has doubled and continues to rise:

420 million people now use mobile ad-blockers, up 94% in the past year.

So when it comes to online advertising, your prospects and customers the world over are increasingly blind to your ads.

Additionally, ad blocking users who search for your keywords won’t find your site in the paid advertising results. That’s a lot of awareness, influence and sales you’re never going to see.

What may be worse yet for marketers in Europe, the mobile carrier Three is looking to introduce mobile ad blocking across it’s network as an option for its customers—all 30 million of them!

If this trend continues (and there’s no reason to think it won’t), the online world will change dramatically. If sites can’t be supported by advertising (think retargeting and mobile PPC campaigns), many websites will disappear overnight.

Blocking online ads is incredibly simple and easy. Want to know how effective ad blocking is? Check out this October 2015 article by the Columbia Journalism Review. If you’re investing your marketing dollars in online advertising, this is a must see.

So the question is, rather than waiting for “what’s next,” how do you reach your prospects when you’re not reaching them online? Let us show you how we can help you grow your brand and your sales.

Interested in learning more about how Ad Blocking is affecting your marketing efforts? Check out these additional perspectives: