Who are ad-blocking users anyway?

Well, we can’t tell you everything about every ad-blocking user out there, but what we can do is share our research, which gives some great insights into a variety of consistent characteristics of users who have ad blockers installed on their devices. 

 

Now, that’s pretty cool, seeing that these users are a huge chunk of the online market, and an often misunderstood and even ‘written-off’ group for many advertisers and publishers. In fact, 40% of the online population are blocking ads. This is a massive percentage of people online to just ignore, or to choose not to understand. And the ad-blocking community continues to grow year by year. Many European and English-speaking markets exceed the 40% range, and countries in the Asia-Pacific region are registering at rates of up to 50% and higher. 

 

So, anyway, some promised introductions…

 

It’s not so much that people with ad blockers feel negatively about ads. The general feeling is that there are too many annoying and intrusive ads on the internet. 

 

You could say the average ad-blocking user has fallen under a negative spell as a consequence of how ads have changed to dominate and often ruin the user experience. GWI data shows that more than 50% of ad-blocking users state that there are too many ads on the internet; more than 40% state that too many ads are annoying or irrelevant, and that ads are intrusive; and almost 40% state that ads take up too much screen space. 

 

Ok, gotcha, users think ads can be annoying. But that doesn’t mean they would be open to ‘less annoying’ ads.  

 

Well, actually, 71% of US online users polled stated that they understood publishers rely on advertising to keep their content free. That’s an interesting bit of data, because it shows that users are quite aware of the value exchange online and that good content doesn’t just appear out of thin air. In fact, over 90% of users with Adblock Plus installed have consented to seeing some form of agreed-upon, less intrusive advertisements through Acceptable Ads. They are, thus, engaged in taking part in a fair value exchange where publishers can monetize.

 

Hmm, that’s actually amazing, though, I also thought I’d get some personal facts, you know, some interesting tidbits…

 

Well, we have those too. For example, according to GWI data, almost 70% of ad-blocking users describe their households’ location as urban. 

 

Also, ad-blocking users are pet lovers: more than 75% of them share their home with an animal. They’re predominantly dog people, although the cat people are not too far behind. 

 

Ad-blocking users like drinks that come in a mug: coffee and tea are the favorite beverages in this demographic. They also enjoy a mid-day boost: energy drinks represent a more popular choice than beer, wine, or spirits.

 

And very important: Nearly 80% of ad-blocking users turn to the internet first when they need information. They like to be online. They know their way around the web. 

 

A pretty interesting group of people indeed. If you want to learn more about them, we’re here to help.

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