Dive summary:
- The introduction of browser plugins that block website ads, like AdBlock Plus, have been touted as a big danger to publishers, but publishers' data shows they aren't as big of a threat as they seem.
- According to the data, publishers say ad blocking is an issue worth monitoring, but it costs them relatively little in lost revenue and poses little threat to their business.
- Publishers are more focused on ad viewability, bot traffic on their sites and, most of all, the increasing adoption of do-not-track mechanisms.
From the article:
"It’s also worth noting that the range of ad-blocking products on the market appears to be growing. Adblock Plus remains the most popular browser plugin that helps users 'surf the Web without annoying ads,' but hardware solutions are hitting the consumer market, too. AdTrap lets users remove ads from their entire home networks, for example.
But ultimately, the use of those products is only really prevalent among niche demographics of tech-savvy and, perhaps, privacy-conscious users. It’s not a mainstream behavior, and publishers don’t expect it to become one any time soon."