A new report from the Association for Online Publishing (AOP) that looked at how many people were using ad blocking software over the last several years. According to the results, the ad blocking usage peaked in 2016 when the rate was 12.3%. In 2017, that number dropped down to 11.6%, and indications show that the percentage of people using this type of software continues to decline.
Despite the drop in ad blocking, however, the amount of revenue that is being lost to ad blockers is still going up. An estimated £13.7 million was lost in 2017. This is a 27% increase in the amount that was lost in this way.
Richard Reeves, the managing director at AOP said, “These latest statistics confirm the general view across the industry that ad blocking rates have plateaued, although there is a gradual increase in its usage on mobile – which again will not come as a surprise. The audit, however, does clearly demonstrate that ad blocking continues to have an impact on publisher revenue and the issue remains high on the agenda for our members.”
While the rate of ad blocking software being used on mobile devices has doubled in the last year, it is still only at about 1.3% as of Q4 2017. This is far lower than on PCs so it is only natural that the levels are rising for now.
