A study shows that 45 million active users in the United States choose to install an ad-blocking software on their device. The number represents 15% of all the internet users in the region. In other countries like Poland, 30% of the Internet users use the said software.
The result of the study alarmed online advertisers who rely on sending ads to users to gain revenue. Businesses will be the first ones to suffer the consequences of the growing popularity of ad-blockers. The authors of the study published by the software company PageFair and Adobe estimated a loss of $22 billion in advertising revenues.
Sean Blanchfield, the chief executive of PageFair expressed his disappointment over the news. He says, "It is tragic that ad block users are inadvertently inflicting multi-billion dollar losses on the very websites they most enjoy."
Ad-blocking software helps users get rid of ads that they find annoying. Ads which just pops out online reduces the enjoyment of the users. While consumers are happy with the relief that the said application can offer, advertisers are slowly feeling the effects. Sooner or later, the software will also reach mobile devices.
Advertisers are now feeling the urgency to address the threat to their business. The study revealed that the aforementioned loss is expected to increase to more than $41 billion next year. The ad blocking software is now threatening the future of free Internet contents.
"With ad blocking going mobile, there's an eminent threat that the business model that has supported the open Web for two decades is going to collapse," Blanchfield stated.
Users are able to install additional features on some Web browsers like Mozilla and Google Chrome which block many ads. Apple will also add a similar tool for its devices in the coming iOS operating system.
Users fail to realize that advertisers are not the only ones who will suffer the consequences. Free contents and services are only offered online because of ads. Without it, Internet users will be forced to pay for the services they use.
