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from the that's-what-I-wanted-to-hear dept.
Ads have long been part of the trade-off for users of the free Web, but the rise of ad blockers is making it increasingly difficult for publishers to sustain that ad-supported model.
That's according to a report published Monday by Adobe Systems and PageFair, a startup focused on assessing the cost of ad blocking and proposing alternatives.
While PageFair clearly has a vested interest in illustrating the negative effects of ad blocking, the findings of its study with Adobe are difficult to ignore. Most notably, ad blocking will cost publishers nearly $22 billion this year, it reported.
Ad blocking has grown by 41% globally in the last 12 months, the report found, amounting now to about 198 million active ad-block users around the world.
There were some interesting geographical differences highlighted in the report, too. For instance, in the U.S., ad blocking grew by 48% over the preceding 12 months to reach 45 million active users by June. In the U.K., ad blocking grew by 82% to reach 12 million active users over that same time frame.
Meanwhile, those numbers will surely be on the rise on the mobile side, Adobe noted in a blog post, given that Apple's iOS 9 will likely include ad-blocking features in Safari by default while Adblock Plus is already available in limited beta for Android.
Ad blocking represents "a major, growing problem for both digital publishers and marketers," said Greg Sterling, vice president for strategy and insights with the Local Search Association.
In many ways, the ad-blocking phenomenon is a response to security and privacy fears that have arisen in the culture at large and a rejection of the state of advertising on the PC internet, Sterling said.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Fishscene on Wednesday August 12 2015, @08:21PM
"COST"??? So because millions of people actively went out of their way and decided NOT to pay strangers on the Internet with their time/mindshare/eyeballs/etc... that is now a COST to the advertising industry?
I suppose Linux users cost Microsoft millions of dollars each year, but even you don't see Microsoft pulling that stunt. It isn't COSTing advertisers a single penny.
Decrease in revenue != cost
Google Definition of Cost: "an amount that has to be paid or spent to buy or obtain something."
Actually, I think the "COST" is millions of dollars saved in bandwidth, and lost time trying to get past the ads.
Information flow is MUCH more efficient without ads and the Internet was born and worked JUST FINE without advertisers cramming their stuff down our eyeballs.
I have 0 pitty for the entire industry, on any medium.
I know I am not God, because every time I pray to Him, it's because I'm not perfect and thankful for what He's done.