A new report from software company Adobe and consulting firm PageFair shows that the use of ad blocking software, including those available for Google, Microsoft and Apple platforms has skyrocketed 41 percent from last year. However, that will cost websites almost $22 billion in 2015. Researchers also discovered that European netizens are less likely than Americans to block commercial content including varieties of online advertisements.
The number of global adblock users jumped to 198 million during the past year, according to NDTV. That was a 41 percent increase.
The advertising industry should brace itself for next year. Lost revenue due to ad-blocking could surge to $40 billion by then, according to The Hullabaloo.
Several software packages are available. AdBlock Plus, which is available for platforms such as Google Chrome, Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, and Apple Safari, features a huge database of blocked ads, and some not-too-annoying advertisements.
The United States reported a 42 percent increase in adblock users. Meanwhile, Europe's growth was just 35 percent.
PageFair CEO Sean Blanchfield said that it was "tragic" that adblock users are indirectly causing losses worth billions of dollars on the websites they enjoy visiting. The use of ad blocking on mobile devices such as smartphones could be devastating to the two decade-old open Internet. It could even collapse.
Blanchfield's company is teaming up with thousands of publishers to show user-friendly advertising to Internet users. Editors and website owners can also help to keep free websites online.
AdBlock Plus recently launched its mobile service. It has won several court cases in which its practices have been labeled as stealing.
A common argument made in favor of adblock is that annoying advertisements force users to begin blocking sites. PageFair did not track how many users eventually unblocked sites that they visit regularly.
Campbell Foster is an Adobe director. He noted that consumers are willing to make the swap of free content for a news article, TV show, movie, or service. However, they draw the line at annoying, unimportant, or "creepy" advertising.
Many industry experts predict that the era of free web content could be in its last days. However, makers of content and websites will still find new and exasperating ways to make big bucks.