IAB: Ad blocking levels stabilise

According to the latest ad blocking report from the IAB, the proportion of British adults currently using ad blockers has remained at 22% for the last year.

This suggests that there is a better understanding from consumers of the ‘value exchange’ that ads fund free content, the IAB has argued.

The report revealed that one in five (21%) who originally downloaded an ad blocker do not use them because they can’t access some content with the blocker installed – 24% cited this reason for switching their ad blockers off, up from 16% a year ago.

“The continued rise in ad blocking that some predicted simply hasn’t materialised,” said the IAB’s CEO Jon Mew.

“A key reason is publishers denying access to content to ad blockers which, in effect, has created that ‘lightbulb’ moment for people who realise that they cannot access free content without seeing the advertising that funds it. The industry has worked hard on promoting this ‘value exchange’ and it’s paying off.”

Trinity Mirror, publisher of the Daily Mirror and hundreds of regional titles, has been testing the hard-line approach and has denied readers access to content unless they white-list its sites.

“Like all publishers, we’ll continue our attempts to balance the often competing requirements of what brands and agencies value, with the experience that we would want to deliver for our users in order to invest in professional content,” said Trinity Mirror’s strategy director Piers North.

“This is especially important in an era where advertisers are increasingly demanding quality inventory and society is more and more concerned with the provenance of content and news.”

Mew added: “Despite the stall in ad blocking, it’s vital the industry doesn’t take its foot off the pedal in working to provide people with a better, lighter and more considerate online advertising experience which will discourage them from blocking ads altogether.”