Ad blocking software to cost digital publishers over $27 bn by 2020: Juniper Research

Ad blocking software could cost digital publishers over $27 billion by 2020, a new report by Juniper Research revealed.

Use of the software had been on the rise, with 198 million active ad blocking users in August 2014, according to a report by Pagefair. This represents a 41-per cent year-on-year increase and according to a recent study by eMarketer over a quarter of UK internet users would be using ad-blocking software by the end of next year.

The trend was being driven by a number of developments and among the more common reasons for the use of the ad-blockers was the intrusiveness of adverts, the lack of relevancy and specifically on mobile, the fact that loading of adverts slowed down web pages and used data.

"Smartphone users will be able to experience faster page load times, creating a better user experience. Much like desktop browsing, consumers will also be less likely to have their personal data shared with third parties," the report said.

Digital ad spend had been increasing with revenue projected to grow 12.1 per cent annually to $239.87 billion in 2019, according to PWC. Mobile ad revenues are set to outstrip display by 2018. However, the revenue is now under threat due to ad blocking software.

According to the research, smaller publishers faced the greatest risk from adblocking software, such as Adblock Plus and Adblock Fast, with millennials rapidly taking to adblocking software.

The study, Worldwide Digital Advertising: 2016-2020, warns that increase in developer activity over the next five years would only make adblockers more sophisticated and difficult to overcome.

Adblocking was currently limited to browser activity and the report predicted that adblocking software to counter in-app ads would be developed soon.

Apple had launched content blocking software in its iOS9 operating system, making it even easier for iPhone users to block ads. Rival Samsung had also followed suit with its ad blocking plug in for its native operating system on the Android phones.