Constant advertisements are taking away the privacy and pleasant online experience from consumers. People are looking for ways to get rid of ads to have a smooth internet use. Many people are adopting ad-blockers that stop or edit online advertising and create an ad-free experience for users. But with every online tool, there are some drawbacks. YouTube has recently announced a global crackdown on ad-blocker apps which are making users look for alternatives.
All About Cookies surveyed 1,000 American users to find out what they think of ad-blockers and what was their overall experience while using them. 93% of the internet users who were surveyed said that they are familiar with ad-blockers while 66% said that they know how to use ad-blockers well. 27% have some idea of what an ad-blocker does while 8% of internet users have never heard of ad-blockers.
Even though a lot of users are familiar with ad-blockers, it is another thing to actually use them. There are free as well as premium ad-blockers available which users can use on mobile or computer. Unsurprisingly, free ad-blockers are used by most of the computer users (47%) while 51% of mobile users have never tried them. Many users are using free ad-blockers while only 1 in 10 users opted for a premium ad-blocker.
In addition to seeing fewer ads (71%), 59% of users also use ad-blockers to protect their data from malware and viruses. 54% use them to protect their privacy online while 43% use them for websites to load faster. Other internet users also use ad-blockers for viewing the content faster (39%), making website navigation easier (28%) and saving data and battery life (20%). When asked if they have ever stopped using a website or skipped a video because of ads, 67% respondents answered yes while 33% said no. 42% of the respondents said that they have subscribed to premium services of a site or streaming service to avoid ads while 58% said that they haven't.
With the rise in new technologies, ad-blocker companies are also updating their software to fulfill the requirements of the users. 94% of ad-blocker users have reported that their software is effective and does the work pretty well. Premium ad-blocker users report more effectiveness in the software. 70% of paid ad-blocker users reported ad-blockers completely blocked the ads as compared to 57% of free users.
Users should also know the ethical use of ad blocking. Some websites also ask the users to turn off their ad-blockers because they can identify the user using ad-blockers. But only 5% of users respect the publisher’s requests while 64% pay no attention to it. 52% of users do not feel guilty while using ad blockers, 19% feel somewhat guilty and only 3% feel extremely guilty while using ad-blockers.
Read next: Northeastern Study Exposes Inefficiencies in Google's Ad System
All About Cookies surveyed 1,000 American users to find out what they think of ad-blockers and what was their overall experience while using them. 93% of the internet users who were surveyed said that they are familiar with ad-blockers while 66% said that they know how to use ad-blockers well. 27% have some idea of what an ad-blocker does while 8% of internet users have never heard of ad-blockers.
Even though a lot of users are familiar with ad-blockers, it is another thing to actually use them. There are free as well as premium ad-blockers available which users can use on mobile or computer. Unsurprisingly, free ad-blockers are used by most of the computer users (47%) while 51% of mobile users have never tried them. Many users are using free ad-blockers while only 1 in 10 users opted for a premium ad-blocker.
In addition to seeing fewer ads (71%), 59% of users also use ad-blockers to protect their data from malware and viruses. 54% use them to protect their privacy online while 43% use them for websites to load faster. Other internet users also use ad-blockers for viewing the content faster (39%), making website navigation easier (28%) and saving data and battery life (20%). When asked if they have ever stopped using a website or skipped a video because of ads, 67% respondents answered yes while 33% said no. 42% of the respondents said that they have subscribed to premium services of a site or streaming service to avoid ads while 58% said that they haven't.
With the rise in new technologies, ad-blocker companies are also updating their software to fulfill the requirements of the users. 94% of ad-blocker users have reported that their software is effective and does the work pretty well. Premium ad-blocker users report more effectiveness in the software. 70% of paid ad-blocker users reported ad-blockers completely blocked the ads as compared to 57% of free users.
Users should also know the ethical use of ad blocking. Some websites also ask the users to turn off their ad-blockers because they can identify the user using ad-blockers. But only 5% of users respect the publisher’s requests while 64% pay no attention to it. 52% of users do not feel guilty while using ad blockers, 19% feel somewhat guilty and only 3% feel extremely guilty while using ad-blockers.
Read next: Northeastern Study Exposes Inefficiencies in Google's Ad System
