Adblock Wars: Can Mobile Escape the Battleground?
The big players like Google and their significant rivals are in the middle of waging browser wars. The reason: an increasing popularity of browsers blocking ads by default. Besides desktop, virtually all mobile web browsers except Google Chrome now support ad blocking. It’s a serious issue for publishers that have relied on ads for monetization.
With consumers becoming mobile-first and increasingly mobile-only, it’s critical for marketers to acknowledge the threat and further explore innovative mobile ad serving solutions. Check out the stats first so you can create your winning streak:
- According to a recently released report, at the end of 2019, 527M people were using mobile browsers that block ads by default, an increase of 64% over the last three years
- With users spending more time on their mobile devices and more mobile browsers than ever performing adblocking by default, among which UC Browser, Opera Mini, Brave and Adblock Browser, 69% of global adblocking is on mobile
- Google has taken extensive action to make it difficult to block ads on Chrome, but in so doing, it has opened the door for adblock-enabled mobile browsers to compete and seize market share
- The popular adblock monetization strategies among top US publishers include: Acceptable Ads, soft- and hard messaging, circumvention technology, with the Acceptable Ads
ecosystem as their preferred channel for monetizing their adblocking audiences
- However, according to another study, a single ad verification company blocked 9.8BN ad impressions last year and some publishers estimated that they were losing 10% and 30% of ad revenue in a single campaign
If strongly convinced that the future is mobile and the above research has sent you in despair, remember that the technology landscape is constantly evolving. Less intrusive ads, in the context of a non-browser mobile-enabled framework that doesn’t need continuous internet connection to serve ads, can be your safe bet. Stay tuned for further updates on the Marketing Bites section of our website.
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