A fifth of global smartphone users utilise adblockers, says report
Some 22 per cent of the world’s smartphone users are making use of adblocking technology, making a substantial loss in the kitty of online publishers and websites.
The Adblocking Goes Mobile report from PageFair states that 22 per cent of the world’s 1.9 billion smartphone users are blocking ads, noting that use of the services almost doubled in 2015 (90 per cent).
Accounting for the majority of this censorship are adblocking mobile browsers that do so by default, most popular in China, India, Indonesia, and Pakistan as a means of cutting down on data usage in developing markets.
“This report tells a sobering story about the future viability of ad-funded media and journalism in developing economies. Adblocking now threatens all mobile channels. Failure to address user concerns about mobile advertising in North America and Europe will lead to the same kind of widespread adblock usage that we are seeing in the Asia Pacific region,” said Sean Blanchfield, chief executive and co-founder of PageFair.
Adblock browsers are more prevalent in Europe than the US, twice as popular by PageFair’s count. Additionally, content blocking apps were three times more popular.
In the Europe, mobile operator Three has penned a deal with Shine to ensure automatic in-browser adblocking, making it one of the first carriers in the region to do so.