At current growth rates, 100% of UK adults will block ads in under 3 years

For any UK web-publishers still hoping that the ad blocking problem will stabilize, it’s time to accept that hope is not a strategy:
At current rates of ad blocking growth, 100% of UK web surfers will be blocking ads in less than 3 years.  
The latest data on UK ad blocking rates comes from the IAB UK, which has been conducting surveys of UK ad blocking penetration over 4 month intervals.  The latest four month period shows that 20% of UK adults now block ads — a 22% rise in usage over the period ending in October 2015.  This latest report marks the second 20%+ increase in a row and indicates that the rate of adblock penetration is increasing.
Here’s a chart to keep you awake at night:
uk-adblocking-100-percent-rate

Needless to say, forward projections based on current growth aren’t exactly a reliable predictive strategy (although don’t tell venture capitalists that) — so don’t go marking August 2018 on your calendar just yet. On the other hand, keep in mind that the pain threshold will be reached long before an ad blocking rate of 100% is ever reached.
The point of the above chart isn’t to pinpoint “D-day“, but to illustrate that the ad blocking problem is here and now for online publishers.
Ignore it at your own risk.

I’m no crystal-ball peering, dream-interpreting, tarot-reading fortune-teller. But from where I’m standing, this looks like a problem for web at large.

12 Replies to “At current growth rates, 100% of UK adults will block ads in under 3 years”

  1. You ignore your own sins at your peril.
    The main reason people seeking ad blocks is security and performance.
    At the heart of both of these lies active content. With Ads web sites deliver scripts and flash to their users over which neither they nor their direct contract partners have any semblance of meaningful control. Modern newspaper web sites are often completely unusable with even modestly aged computers (like, 5 years old). And ad networks keep doling out virus droppers and trojans at an alarming rate, while neither advertisers nor media companies bother to notice.
    It is no accident that EVERY MAJOR anti-adblock solution also blocks NoScript, which is purely a security solution without any regard for ads.
    None of you guys needs user tracking. None of you guys needs scripts for advertising. None of you guys needs flash or movies.
    Sooner or later we will all end with GIF browser banners again. Non-animated. And you will only have yourself and your insufferable greed to blame.

    1. I must say you’re a funny guy because you have no idea what you are
      talking about. I bet you are not even a webmaster. No, you’re just
      another adblocker
      How will the future look like for most website?
      Most entertainment sites will stop using ads because adblock is killing their revenue anyways so what will they do?
      They will charge you for streaming videos/registration/and for many other features that are currently free thanks to ads.
      The one who invented adblocking system/software didn’t do it because he
      cared about you or the ads. No, he did it all for the $$$
      Yes, i am a webmaster and i host many sites for fun. I am also a developer who makes free software. Yes all of this shit is free why? because i do it
      for fun and dont want to make any profit from it yet i like to use ads
      to keep hosting the site. That means i dont want to spend any $ from own
      pocket because i already spend shit load of money to build the sites
      and everything.
      Thanks to adblockers, most entertainment website will vanish or perhaps they will stop using ads and charge users instead.
      #TrueStory

    2. “insufferable greed”?
      Right. Because everyone knows the online publishing industry is rolling in cash. I hear people are leaving Wall Street to start blogs.
      /sarc

  2. You ignore your own sins at your peril.
    The main reason people seeking ad blocks is security and performance.
    At the heart of both of these lies active content. With Ads web sites deliver scripts and flash to their users over which neither they nor their direct contract partners have any semblance of meaningful control. Modern newspaper web sites are often completely unusable with even modestly aged computers (like, 5 years old). And ad networks keep doling out virus droppers and trojans at an alarming rate, while neither advertisers nor media companies bother to notice.
    It is no accident that EVERY MAJOR anti-adblock solution also blocks NoScript, which is purely a security solution without any regard for ads.
    None of you guys needs user tracking. None of you guys needs scripts for advertising. None of you guys needs flash or movies.
    Sooner or later we will all end with GIF browser banners again. Non-animated. And you will only have yourself and your insufferable greed to blame.

    1. I must say you’re a funny guy because you have no idea what you are
      talking about. I bet you are not even a webmaster. No, you’re just
      another adblocker
      How will the future look like for most website?
      Most entertainment sites will stop using ads because adblock is killing their revenue anyways so what will they do?
      They will charge you for streaming videos/registration/and for many other features that are currently free thanks to ads.
      The one who invented adblocking system/software didn’t do it because he
      cared about you or the ads. No, he did it all for the $$$
      Yes, i am a webmaster and i host many sites for fun. I am also a developer who makes free software. Yes all of this shit is free why? because i do it
      for fun and dont want to make any profit from it yet i like to use ads
      to keep hosting the site. That means i dont want to spend any $ from own
      pocket because i already spend shit load of money to build the sites
      and everything.
      Thanks to adblockers, most entertainment website will vanish or perhaps they will stop using ads and charge users instead.
      #TrueStory

    2. “insufferable greed”?
      Right. Because everyone knows the online publishing industry is rolling in cash. I hear people are leaving Wall Street to start blogs.
      /sarc

  3. Yes, and in just 4 years, over 200% of all users will be using adblock! That means that you will need to pay money to have ads on your site, since you will have a negative number of views! Three data points should be more than enough to reach this conclusion. XD
    Relevant xkcd: https://xkcd.com/605/

  4. Yes, and in just 4 years, over 200% of all users will be using adblock! That means that you will need to pay money to have ads on your site, since you will have a negative number of views! Three data points should be more than enough to reach this conclusion. XD
    Relevant xkcd: https://xkcd.com/605/

Leave a Reply to Selina Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *