As the ad-blocking debate rages on, new figures from the IAB reveal that there has been no increase in the number of online UK adults (18+) using blockers in the last six months.
21.2% of Brits online are currently running an ad-blocker, compared to 21.7% in February.
A slight increase in usage among women has been offset by a decline among men, with 18-24s still the most likely group to be blocking online ads (38%).
“It’s encouraging to see ad blocking plateauing but it certainly isn’t a sign the industry needs to take its foot off the pedal in terms of moving to a less invasive, lighter and more user-friendly ad experience,” the IAB said.
However, the figure might be lower than reported due to consumer confusion over what is and isn’t an ad-blocker. More than one in five consumers who claim to use an ad-blocker incorrectly cited anti-virus software or blockers that do not exist.
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The IAB also found that more than a fifth (22%) of people who have downloaded an ad-blocker no longer use it.
The biggest rise in why people have turned them off is a lack of trust (up from 6% to 14%). Women are nearly seven times more likely than men to have turned it off for this reason (27% vs 4%).
55% of people said they would switch their blocker off if it was the only way to access content, with 18-24s (72%) the most likely to do this.
Meanwhile, 67% said that they are aware that online advertising funds free content and services on many websites, with 55% aware that blocking online ads means some websites cannot afford to offer free access to content.
Last week Facebook announced changes that will force its desktop users to see adverts.
The social media giant said ad-blocking software, used by around 200 million people globally, was a threat to free online services and quality journalism – although it understood that many ads could be annoying or irrelevant. The update will see new tools made available to improve the ad experience in users’ newsfeeds.
However, it did not take long for Adblock Plus to find a workaround…followed by a counter attack from Facebook, followed by a workaround by Adblock Plus…
