Selected key findings from 2Q2017 Survey
- Despite mobiles being one of the most commonly owned devices in the US, they lag significantly behind PCs and laptops as a device used for ad-blocking – only 22% of current ad-blocker users are blocking ads on their smartphones (meaning only 15% of US internet device owners block ads on mobile).
- Only half of internet device owners in the USA are even aware that they can block ads on their mobile. And if we look only at those who have not blocked ads on a mobile, more than 6 in 10 state that they did not know that it was possible to do so.
- There remains little willingness or recognition on the part of many consumers to accept that ads – even if they are respectful – are at the core of free content online. 1 in 2 smartphone owners in the USA state that they would prefer to block all ads on their mobile device. However, it is still one fifth of smartphone owners who say they don’t mind seeing ads on their mobile if they are respectful, while a similar number say they are willing to donate money to support websites.
- It’s ad-frustration which is the biggest driver of ad-blocking uptake in the US. Respondents were most likely to state that ad-overload, irrelevant content, intrusive formats and slow page load speeds motivate them to deploy an ad-blocker. Around 3 in 10 US Ad-Blockers are stating that they are concerned about ads compromising their online privacy, and 1 in 4 saying they don’t like ads which are personalized based on their browsing history. But most of all it’s poor user experience which is driving this resistance to ads.
The State of Mobile Ad-Blocking in 2017. 2017. GlobalWebIndex.