Although the highest ad blocking rates in Europe are seen in Germany, where a top ad blocker company started and where digital privacy is a key concern, ad blocking is now a global problem.
In a new White Paper entitled Overcoming the Ad Blockers, Ooyala notes that while ad block usage grew by 35% in Europe in the past year to 77 million active users, during the same period in the US it increased by 48% to 45 million monthly active users, and globally by 41% to 198 million monthly.
It adds that the 2016 Presidential election in the US could exacerbate the ad-blocking problem still further.
Ooyala also notes that Millennials aged 18-34 are still driving ad blocking behaviour, with recent studies showing that nearly two-thirds opt for the practice. Furthermore, while gaming and tech industry verticals are affected the most, ad blocking is likely to grow across other verticals and mainstream demographics, and also expand from desktop to mobile environments.
For further details and to download the White Paper, please click here.