Although online publishers allowed to reach more people than ever before, the hardest hit for the publishers who depend on digital advertising revenue, which was the rise of ad-blocking that allows the user to block adverts on the internet.

Ad-blocking is running at between 38% (Poland), 24% in the US, & 21% in the UK, but much higher amongst under-35s, The vast majority do so on their laptop or desktop computer.

Across the entire sample, only around one in ten (8%) block adverts using their smartphone, Around a third of our sample say they plan to install an ad-blocker on their smartphones in the next year (this question was asked in Germany, UK, and the US only).

In countries where ad-blocking is particularly common – such as Poland and Spain – a majority of 18–24-year-olds are blocking adverts. In every country, ad-blocking becomes slightly less common with each increase in the age bracket, but the fact that many blockers are young & technically savvy.

Most of the sample users reasons for ad-blocking from a selected countries – Like US, UK, GER, FRA, SPA, POLCAN, POR, NLD, CZE- was due to the volume and distracting nature of advertisements in general, while the below reason was due to the dislike ness of ads that follow them around from one site to another (privacy concerns).

A Graph Shows The Proportion Within Each Age Group That Currently Use Ad-BLockers, 2016.