In a continuing challenge to online marketers, a new report from the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) revealed that a quarter of respondent said they block ads on their computers, while 15% of smart phone users use ad blockers on their devices.
Specifically, males aged between 18 and 34 years represent 32% of ad blocker users, while women in the same age range represent 22% of users, the report further said.
Additionally, the report said that 17% of those surveyed plan to use ad blockers in the future.
While the advertising industry blasted ad-blocking applications developers as “unethical, immoral, and mendacious,” the use of such software is gaining ground because users find it easier to navigate pages and cite faster browsing and page load times, the study said.
In addition, respondents said that they find ads that block content or follow them down pages while scrolling, and long video ads that play before short videos as the most annoying type of ads.
To gain back access to the screens of ad-blocking users, the IAB suggested that advertisers give users control over the content they are displaying, such as video skip buttons and ratings tools.
Also, they should be assured of the safety of the ads by providing guarantees against malware and viruses.
In its list of don’ts, IAB said advertisers should not disrupt the browsing flow with autoplay and slow loading, especially on mobile, pop-ups and full page ads.
