Frederic Filloux, writing for Monday Note:
When Tim Cook introduced content-blocking features in iOS9, and thus caused a flood of ad-blocking apps in the App Store, the topic became more mainstream than ever. Adblockers adoption rose to never-seen-before levels. (A reminder of the most recent data: PageFair says that between 8% and 16% of ads are blocked in the US, vs. 10% to 35% in Europe; SecretMedia says that 26% of video ads are blocked in the US vs. 33% to 62% in Europe; more in our previous stories on the subject.) PageFair figures vastly underestimate the problem. In a recent poll, The Information (paywall) found that 50% of respondents already used an adblocker, and that 52% intended to install one on their iPhone.
Those are surprisingly high numbers and, I suspect, they’ll continue to rise, because:
Through their data plans, users are actually taxed by intrusive ads. Some carrier plans — usually the most expensive ones — might include unlimited data. But “unlimited” doesn’t usually work when roaming: bit-guzzling apps prove costly when traveling abroad. Besides the monetary impact, the adblocking benefit experienced in navigation comfort and speed is way more tangible on a mobile device than on the desktop. For example, according to tests performed by BrooksReview, the loading time gain on New York Times mobile pages is 6x. No wonder why adblocking apps are such a hit in the AppStore.
There’s a reason ad blockers have had such a meteoric rise to the top of the App Store charts. They make a huge and immediate impact on your browsing experience.
From the conclusions:
At some point, all ecosystem components (advertisers, creative agencies, media buyers, marketplaces, publishers) will need to congregate and come up with acceptable ad formats, as well as reasonable tracking practices. For now, they appear numb, but the combined pressure of quarterly earnings and antsy customers will force change.
And:
Low-end formats will disappear from the web, to the benefit of rarer, more sophisticated ads such as bespoke contents. In the process, most bottom-feeding intermediaries should vanish, with remaining ones adding real value.
As Frederic says, things are going to get worse before they get better. But ultimately, this is a shakeup in an industry that truly needs a shakeup.