Why are Australians using adblockers?

Pippa Chambers
By Pippa Chambers | 21 November 2016
 

A fear of viruses and malware is the most common reason for installing adblocking software, according to the IAB Adblocking in Australia study.

Twenty-percent of people said they downloaded adblocking software as they had concerns about getting computer viruses and malware. This was followed by 16% of respondents that said they installed adblockers because they felt there were too many ads on sites.

Almost 30% of Australian consumers are now using adblocking technology on one of their devices, although four out of 10 Australian don’t know about adblockers.

The results stem from a survey of 1,864 online Australians by Pureprofile in October. The study asked respondents about their knowledge and experience of adblocking technologies.

The study found that many consumers are open to modifying their adblocking habits with the right communication from websites and identified four ways to encourage consumers to stop using ad blockers:

  • Assure users of site safety: Provide guarantees that site and ads are secure, malware- and virus-free, and won’t slow down browsing. 
  • Focus on ads that limit interruption of content flow and do not take an excessive amount of time to load.  
  • Polite messaging to turn off their ad blocker or whitelist a site in exchange for viewing content. 
  • Some sites may choose to limit content availability for users of ad blockers who do not turn off their blockers. IAB Australia members have access to an Ad Block Detection Code to help provide better communication with site visitors about ad blocking and to get a more consistent understanding of the scope of ad blocker usage.

Time to evolve

IAB CEO Vijay Solanki says as an industry it’s “vital” that we continue to evolve and improve ad experiences for consumers to produce lighter, more relevant and quality creative.

“We also need to educate consumers on the safety of ad supported sites as there is clearly some confusion about advertising delivering viruses simply because many adblocking tools are packaged with anti-virus software,” Solanki says.

“Finally we need to educate consumers about the value exchange that can be offered by ads, allowing them access to content."

The study also found adblockers are used primarily on desktops and laptops, with only 6% of people having adblockers on mobile devices. The findings from the study are consistent with other markets, with Australia on par with the US and slightly ahead of UK averages.

Other notable stats show that seven in 10 people have been asked by a site to turn off their adblocker to gain access to content; of these 62% have taken an action after a site request (turned off or deleted blocker, whitelisted site).

The Adblocking Taskforce, which includes representatives from Carsales, Celtra, Fairfax Media, Google, Ikon, News Corp, Nine Entertainment Co, Sizmek, Telstra, Yahoo7 and Zenith, is now working on guidelines and a program that address the four recommendations, as well as general market education activities for consumers, media and creative agencies.

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