The Impact of Ad-Blocking: Insights from Adblock Plus and ClarityRay

Ad-blocking software is a significant phenomenon that has gained traction in recent years. As of my last knowledge update in August 2023, specific user statistics for tools like Adblock Plus can vary widely and are not always publicly available. However, it was reported that Adblock Plus has millions of users worldwide, making it one of the most popular ad-blocking extensions. For the most accurate and current user statistics, you may want to check the official website or recent surveys on browser extensions.

Why Do Users Choose Ad-Blocking Software?

During a discussion, a participant mentioned, 'If there were no pop-ups, overlays, tracking ads, or autoplay videos, there would be a lot fewer people using Adblock.' This sentiment highlights the primary reasons why users choose ad-blocking software, including annoying and intrusive ads, privacy concerns, and the desire for a better browsing experience. Adblock Plus, in response, seeks a compromise through its Acceptable Ads initiative, aiming to uphold the free internet that we all appreciate while still protecting users from unwanted interruptions.

As a blogger, you can participate in this initiative by applying to Apply Here. Over 90 percent of the extensions on the Acceptable Ads whitelist are available for free, with the criteria being the same for everyone. Mrinal Saha, a representative from Adblock Plus, noted that YouTube video ads are not and never will be part of their Acceptable Ads program. For more insight, feel free to read this article, which delves into how the Acceptable Ads program works.

The Growing Trend of Ad-Blocking

The phenomenon of ad-blocking is not limited to casual users. According to Forbes, a survey of 220 internet users found that 22.7 percent of people use ad-blocking software. This number is growing at a rate of 43 per year, indicating a steadily increasing trend. A 2012 report from ClarityRay revealed that the total ad-blocking market encompassed 70 million users, with Adblock Plus holding the largest market share at 75 percent. In the US, approximately 18.5 million users have an ad-blocker installed, which represents approximately 7.5 percent of the total US online population (245,203,319).

An In-Depth Look at Ad-Blocking Statistics

For the past months, ClarityRay has been conducting a comprehensive and rigorous attempt to measure the pervasiveness of ad-blocking software by auditing over 100 million impressions across several top-tier publishers in the US and Europe. In an effort to overcome the inherent difficulties in measuring ad-blocking—such as distortions or halts in external measures—the study employed live detection from within the publisher's site, using several unrelated tests. This provided a very high degree of accuracy.

Key Findings

Average Ad-blocking Rate: On average, 9.26 percent of impressions were found to be ad-blocked, with some sites reaching as high as 50 percent. By Category: Tech sites averaged 17.79 percent, news 15.58, and culture 9.94. Business, real estate, and travel sites typically had lower rates. By Geography: Ad-blocking is higher in the US and EU, with top countries being Austria (22.50), Hungary (21.52), and Germany (19.44). The US average is 8.72. By Browser: Firefox users had the highest blocking rate at 17.81, followed by Safari at 11.30 and Chrome at 10.06. Explorer averaged at 3.86. By Operating System and Mobile: Linux users had a staggering 29.04 blocking rate compared to 12.95 for Mac users and 9.25 for Windows users. Mobile blocking is gaining popularity, with Android showing a 2.24 blocking rate and iOS at 1.33.

These findings point to the estimation that ad-blocking will significantly increase in consumer adoption. For more comprehensive data, you may download the full report from here.

Disclosure: I am one of ClarityRay's founders. However, please note that ClarityRay has since been acquired by Yahoo, and the official report is no longer available. A copy can be found at this link: ClarityRay AdBlock Report.