According to advertising analytics company, PageFair, the use of adblockers has grown by 30% since 2016, and some kind of ad-blocking process is being used by 615 million devices across Asia, Europe and the US. Other interesting discoveries have also been made by PageFair in its report ‘The state of the blocked web’:

• 11% of global internet usage employs ad blocking
• Mobile ad blocking usage increased by 108 million
• Desktop ad blocking usage increased by 34 million
• 77% of US ad blocking users admitted they are willing to view some ad formats
• Adblockers users are in all age groups

So how can video advertisers reach target markets?

With a significant number of adblockers users willing to view some form of internet advertising (77%), video advertisers do have a good chance of reaching their target markets by employing a little forward-thinking to their ads.

Experts in the field are encouraging advertisers to step back and ‘think outside the box’ to deliver the types of ads consumers want to see, and to build trust in their engagement with those consumers who are installing adblockers in the first place.

A few ideas have been generated using the PageFair report, and these include giving consumers the ‘power of choice’, the use of ‘new ad formats’ and probably the most controversial idea, ‘paying users for their data’.

Let’s take a closer look at each suggestion:

Giving consumers the power of choice

The first idea to help video advertisers get around adblockers involves the use of a subscription fee to internet users. The fee structure is based on revenue-sharing, and the content is ad-free, but the subscription is shared amongst preferred publishers that are visited by the user.

New ad formats

PageFair’s report suggests that a significant portion of internet users are willing to watch certain types of ads, and new ad formats should be explored if adblockers are to be beaten.

Facebook, for example, uses coding to show ads as content that can still be engaged with by users, while not being recognised by adblockers. Other experts suggest that outstream video ads are less disruptive to the user experience.

The insertion of text ads within video presentations is another method that can be explored by video advertisers to attempt to avoid adblockers technology.

Paying users for their data

The use of user’s personal data is becoming a growing concern across the internet as consumers begin to realise the value of their own data. This is cited by many experts as being one of the biggest reasons why trust is being lost within the video advertising marketplace.

It has been suggested by companies that are working within the market to create a better balance between brands and consumers, that the payment of compensation to consumers for the specific use of their data will begin to build trust again.

All the industry experts agree that the video advertising industry should be making steps to adapt to the changing attitude of consumers to ads, in order to get around the instances of adblockers usage across the globe. The consensus seems to be that for video advertising to survive, advertisers need to get behind the idea of working closely with consumers and consumer data, and to realise why they are using adblockers in the first place.