Ad blockers are becoming an increasing threat to the future of the digital advertising market, according to research from Accenture.
The online survey, which covered 28,000 consumers across 28 countries, found that 61 per cent of consumers are aware of multiple options for removing advertising.
It also revealed that four in ten (42 per cent) of users said they would pay to eliminate the interruptions.
“Ad blockers are a relatively new threat to the digital advertising industry,” said Gavin Mann, Accenture’s global broadcast industry lead.
“Consumers are increasingly willing to pay for blockers because too many ads are poorly targeted.
“In today’s world of personalised content, being forced to watch an ad that has no relevance is a missed opportunity and feels increasingly intrusive on precious screen time.
“In fact, simple avoidance of content associated with heavy and repetitive irrelevant advertising will increase as consumer choice and awareness of choice increases.”
The survey additionally found that young consumers are especially aware of ad blockers compared with older age groups.
Over two thirds (69 per cent) of 18-24 year olds are aware of ad-interruption technologies, as are 66 per cent of those aged 25-34.
Awareness of ad-blocking methods was revealed to be more prevalent among consumers in emerging markets rather than those already developed. For instance, 65 per cent of respondents in emerging-market countries said they know about ad-blockers, compared with 55 percent of consumers in the UK.
“There’s no point in following the music industry’s failed attempts at thwarting piracy,” Mann added.
“It’s futile to focus all efforts on trying to outsmart ever-evolving ad-blocking technologies to force audiences to watch ads.
“The industry needs to do everything possible to make ads less of an infringement on precious screen time, by building on early successes that deliver targeted, relevant and entertaining ads – in a creative style appreciated by the individual.”
