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back to article More and more Brits are using ad-blockers, says survey

22 per cent of British adults now use ad blocking software, up from 15 per cent last July – and by four per cent over three months. The survey was compiled for trade group the Internet Advertising Bureau by YouGov. The IAB wants more consumer-friendly and “lighter” ads to fend off an “Adpocalypse”. Two weeks ago mobile …

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  1. Andy Non Silver badge
    Megaphone

    Turn it off? Not no way, no chance, no how.

    "54 per cent of those surveyed (and more 18-24s) said they’d turn the blocker off to reach a particular site or service."

    I've been using Adblock+ for many years (and NoScript) and I've never turned off ad blocking in all that time. I recently tried browsing the web using someone else's computer (no blocking) and it was an entirely different, horrible place, with pop up ads, ads blocking the content, flashing ads and even someone shouting an advert at me. F**k all that! How do people use the web without an ad blocker?

    100 0 Reply
    1. RikC
      Reply Icon

      Re: Turn it off? Not no way, no chance, no how.

      Yep, same combination here. Especially NoScript is a delight when you turn on the synchronization function in about:config so your own configuration of scripts you've allowed is available across the devices you're using. I recently stumbled upon websites blocking you in those instances (typically the kind of website that offers you the well known kind of "did you know that" infotainment to keep you distracted from work). Simple choice then, not visiting anymore: Because when a website is so keen on such things the likelihood that their information is irrelevant distraction is simply quite high! :-D

      20 0 Reply
    2. Anonymous Coward
      Reply Icon
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: How do people use the web without an ad blocker?

      the same way you do it (and I do it), only the opposite. What I mean is that take it for granted, and then, when they see my google start page, with just a search box, they gasp, feel lost... but generally, very soon they see the light, and from there on, it's a one-way road for them, oh yeah! ;)

      5 0 Reply
      1. Graham Marsden
        Reply Icon

        Re: How do people use the web without an ad blocker?

        Very very rarely I will switch off my ad blocker if there's a site I *need* to use and can't access it without, but more often I switch to another browser that doesn't block, but which clears history, cache, cookies and so on as soon as I exit.

        12 0 Reply
        1. BobChip
          Reply Icon
          Unhappy

          Re: How do people use the web without an ad blocker?

          Likewise. I will - occasionally - turn off my ad-blocker, and usually Ghostery as well, when I find an article I really want to read, and if that supports a genuine content provider I don't have a problem with that. It does take a few moments to do, and of course it all has to be turned back on afterwards, but I can live with that for good content.

          Where I take issue is with the sheer junk content of most advertising. I'm no Einstein, but it is so blatantly obvious that most of the stuff out there is fake or at best highly dubious, even when it is not outright malware. And it sucks up my bandwith. Advertisers complain that I have no "right" to steal their expensively created "content", but also believe as an article of faith that they can treat my paid-for bandwidth as a free good. IT IS NOT! Ad-blocking helps me control my costs, and until the advertisers put their house in order, adverts will stay blocked.

          Have an up vote from me, Graham.

          10 0 Reply
          1. Alan Brown Silver badge
            Reply Icon

            Re: How do people use the web without an ad blocker?

            "Advertisers complain that I have no "right" to steal their expensively created "content", but also believe as an article of faith that they can treat my paid-for bandwidth as a free good."

            That's the point.

            All advertising on the Internet is "cost shifted to the recipient" - which means that advertisers need to respect the recipient's wishes or face being blocked.

            The fact that so many demand access at all costs shows that the spammer mindset is alive and kicking in the marketing community.

            0 0 Reply
            1. Glenturret Single Malt
              Reply Icon

              Re: How do people use the web without an ad blocker?

              I buy the actual paper edition of the Times each Saturday. First job is to run the mechanical adblock filter by going through it, taking out all the advertising supplements and binning them, unlooked at and unloved. Then, when reading the paper itself, my heart leaps with delight when I see a full page ad, knowing that I can ignore that page completely; even more so if it is a double page spread - I can turn over to the next page without even giving it a glance. The advertisers' "expensively created content" serves a good purpose - in the recycling bin - and has had minimal influence on my purchasing intentions.

              1 0 Reply
      2. Anonymous Coward
        Reply Icon
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: How do people use the web without an ad blocker?

        " when they see my google start page, with just a search box, they gasp, feel lost"

        Probably not the best example - the google search page is hardly cluttered with adverts anyway... I just went to it, switched off adblock... no difference.

        3 0 Reply
    3. Cynical Observer
      Reply Icon

      Re: Turn it off? Not no way, no chance, no how.

      @Andy

      ...Declaration - I've been running AdBloclPlus or uBlock Origin for tears - coupled with NoScript on my laptop and AdblockPlus on the phone. And likewise, I am in shock if I borrow a machine that does not have them installed.

      But..... I have previously (and will again) turned it off on the phone when I hit an AdWall. The page simply would not render with the AdBlock enabled. It happened to be a news article that I was particularly keen to read - so yes, there was a need to compromise on this occasion.

      Will it happen again - yes.

      Will AdWalls become prevalent? Personally I hope not but if they do then I can see me reassessing which sites I can and can't be bothered visiting - similar to pay walls.

      e.g I don't click on links to articles on The Times - I'm not prepared to pay and I know that as such the link is useless. If AdWalls and flashy intrusive advertising become the norm on a site then it will probably see me behave similarly

      16 0 Reply
      1. MJI Silver badge
        Reply Icon

        Re: Turn it off? Not no way, no chance, no how.

        I will admit I get ratty when I see likes to that site.

        Why can't google news automatically filter out paywalls and the like?

        Or could I configure my browser to look like a robot?

        6 1 Reply
        1. allthecoolshortnamesweretaken
          Reply Icon

          Re: Turn it off? Not no way, no chance, no how.

          "Why can't google news automatically filter out paywalls and the like?"

          Think it through (or make a wild guess)...

          17 1 Reply
        2. Anonymous Coward
          Reply Icon
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Turn it off? Not no way, no chance, no how.

          "Or could I configure my browser to look like a robot?"

          If you were to do that, you would find your browsing a horrible experience missing large chunks of content.

          1 2 Reply
      2. Triggerfish
        Reply Icon

        Re: Turn it off? Not no way, no chance, no how.

        There's a couple of sites I do, they are however not only useful sites to me but also do not have stupid flashing adverts, self playing videos, and the content/advert ratio means I still feel like I am reading a site rather than a glossy spread.

        I do not really mind advertising, I have learnt to ignore it to some degree and so can live with it when its OK. However tracking me, commercialising me and my data, epilepsy inducing flashing things, fecking pop up windows that wander across the screen (el reg..seriously considering the site, considering it's readership, how? I mean really how did you think it was going to end up?), and all the other things advertisers think we actually want as part of our advertisig experience. Have caused me to go for the software option of nuke every ad on every site I can out of habit.

        It was the advertising companies fault they are the ones who wanted to play the big boys and be twats about it.

        15 0 Reply
        1. Tom 13
          Reply Icon

          @Triggerfish

          I concur about the intrusiveness of the current crop of ads. I've tolerated it until today because I've figured it was the cost of getting free content. Websites have to make money somehow. But some of the ads have become SO intrusive I just loaded a blocker. And yes, I have the self-playing videos as well. It's MY data stream damn it! You can f*cking well ASK my permission before playing.

          8 1 Reply
          1. KeithR
            Reply Icon

            Re: @Triggerfish

            "But some of the ads have become SO intrusive I just loaded a blocker. And yes, I have the self-playing videos as well. It's MY data stream damn it! You can f*cking well ASK my permission before playing."

            This, really.

            I'm not miltantly anti-ad on principle: it's the experience that results from allowing ads, rather than the ads themselves, that provoke me to block them (I've been blocking them waaaay before it became A Thing - anyone else remember Siemens' "WebWasher? I was running that in 2000).

            With bandwidth no longer being an issue, I'd happily accept some ads - but until they're delivered more unobtrusively, and are better targeted (I don't really mind Google's servings - they're usually on point, but I don't give a flying fark about pensions advice some random US pensions broker when I'm in the UK and nowhere near retiring), ad-blocking it will have to be.

            4 1 Reply
    4. Grikath
      Reply Icon
      Facepalm

      Re: Turn it off? Not no way, no chance, no how. @ Andy Non

      "F**k all that! How do people use the web without an ad blocker?"

      We simply do?

      There's a fair amount of sites that *do* make sure their "source of extra income/hosting cost mitigation" behaves within acceptable parameters. They get the ad-blockers turned off. Unless they take the piss, of course.. The others.. well.. let's say you only get One Chance.. ( El Reg, for instance, has borked theirs several times already.. ah well...)

      And of course.. being "safe" behind your adblockers and noscripters has not given you the necessary desensitation and necessary knowledge to Not Go There Without.... that people who do regularly turn off their blockers, or do completely without have. By being militant about blocking, you failed to grow the callouses you need, and never learned to use the ads themselves as indicators of whether or not a site is worth visiting. You are the little lab rat that never saw the outside world, and has no clue, and no immunity..

      So the icon is for you, for making the crucial mistake of Ivory Towering, and acting all surprised when that does. not. work.

      3 28 Reply
      1. heyrick Silver badge
        Reply Icon

        Re: Turn it off? Not no way, no chance, no how. @ Andy Non

        "never learned to use the ads themselves as indicators of whether or not a site is worth visiting."

        I tend to find assessing the site content is a better indication than adverts that are served by a third party. If the content is crap or I need to turn off blocking - bye bye. I'm getting older and as I age I find my tolerance for bull lowering. It's just easier to close the tab, there are very few sites that I need to visit...

        14 1 Reply
    5. Anonymous Coward
      Reply Icon
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Turn it off? Not no way, no chance, no how.

      yup - same here - adblock plus on here. In addition, I have disabled embedded apps (click to run flash etc), Javascript opt in, and disabled third party cookies.

      The web is a fast, and enjoyable place. I tried a particular website on a colleagues computer and the page took ages to load and ultimately failed (as it couldn't load a particular advert).

      5 0 Reply
  2. Steve Todd

    Take note of this yourself El Reg

    I was content to do without ad blocking myself until your huge banner and animated ads made the site unusable on a mobile device. Things have improved vastly since it was enabled. Limit the space and bandwidth of your ads or we'll do it for you.

    73 0 Reply
    1. davidp231
      Reply Icon

      Re: Take note of this yourself El Reg

      The Android app isn't much better... open opening an article, the ad loads first, and half the time it doesn't bother trying to load the actual article afterwards. Ads load first time, every time though...

      1 0 Reply
      1. Roland6 Silver badge
        Reply Icon

        Re: Take note of this yourself El Reg

        open opening an article, the ad loads first

        Seeing more of this and yes on 3/4g with hit-and-miss connectivity and fluctuating data rates it is highly irritating... Also if you are running an adblocker the site will serve up an ad 'requesting' you to turn off your adblocker. Naturally when you turn off the adblocker and refresh, the site will condescend to display the content you were wanting to see; network permitting...

        It is a great shame that Agnitum have sold out, because they included an excellent web content blocker in their Outpost product for many years (it predates Adblock et al), unfortunately, they only did a plug-in for IE, so using it in Chrome etc. wasn't a user friendly point-and-click experience...

        1 0 Reply
      2. Alan Brown Silver badge
        Reply Icon

        Re: Take note of this yourself El Reg

        "The Android app isn't much better..."

        You can get Apps like Ad Away (which drop in hosts file entries for most of the annoying webvertisers) and that will nuke most app parasites in addition to cleaning up the browsing experience.

        0 0 Reply
    2. cyberdemon Silver badge
      Reply Icon
      Go

      I don't use an ad blocker

      But I still don't see those nasty flashy-background ads on The Register (unless i'm on someone else's computer, in which case my first reaction is 'eww').

      The reason I don't see them is purely *because* the ads are so intrusive - they are running a whole load of javascript either to jump in your face or to slurp up your data (Mouse pointer tracking, anyone? Where's my tinfoil hat?)

      As I say, I don't use adblock. But I DO use a whitelist Javascript blocker (ScriptSafe for Chrome). This *breaks* most bad ads (including those on El Reg, and of course Google's innocuous-looking but data-slurping ones) but lets the "good" ads through. I.e. those which are a simple HTML image with a hyperlink. Those nasty ones that slow this site down just don't load, because they are pulled in by a script that doesn't get run. So the page loads much faster too.

      The only downside is that it breaks functionality on some websites (especially badly written ones) until I whitelist a whole domain. I often have to hunt a bit for the "functionality" scripts on a page, avoiding those which are "anti-functionality". But it's a small price to pay IMO for avoiding having my data slurped, and not seeing intrusive ads.

      1 1 Reply
    3. MyffyW Silver badge
      Reply Icon

      Re: Take note of this yourself El Reg

      Sorry to say the Ads on El Reg are serious hogs of time, screen and system resources.

      I know your moto is Biting the hand that feeds IT but seriously I think you're half way through sawing off the branch you're sitting on.

      4 0 Reply
      1. Anonymous Coward
        Reply Icon
        Happy

        Re: Take note of this yourself El Reg

        El Reg has intrusive adverts? Can't say I noticed...

        1 0 Reply
  3. Kraggy

    When ad networks

    a) guarantee not to inflict malvertising on me

    b) never use animated ads

    c) never use ads with audio

    I MAY decide to remove AdBlock+ .. and I fully expect to see ice in Hell before that happens.

    And yes, Steve Todd, a very apposite comment, I do love good doses of irony.

    45 0 Reply
    1. Known Hero
      Reply Icon
      Thumb Up

      apposite

      My new word for the day, I like it :) Many thanks.

      3 0 Reply
    2. Tom 13
      Reply Icon

      @Kraggy

      You left off the one that finally pushed me over the edge:

      d) never obscures the content I actually came to read/watch

      23 1 Reply
  4. Unep Eurobats

    Very different from magazines

    People were always fine with ads in magazines that they'd paid for. A good print ad can enhance the experience. How different it would be if you had to wait for 30 seconds before you could turn the page and then when you did the whole thing fell apart.

    Web ads have a long way to go. The blocker stays on.

    49 0 Reply
    1. Richard Jones 1
      Reply Icon
      WTF?

      Re: Very different from magazines

      I did/do hate those ads in magazines which are printed on stiff boards and usually tear them out before trying to read the rest of the book. I guess that was a sort of physical add block.

      I wonder what the ads were for?

      On second thoughts, don't bother!

      12 0 Reply
      1. BugabooSue
        Reply Icon
        Pint

        Re: Very different from magazines

        @Richard Jones 1

        "and usually tear them out before trying to read the rest of the book"

        I do exactly the same - I thought I was the only one!! :)

        Have a beer and an Up for making me smile

        (PS If I accidentally see the company responsible for the advert, I make a mental note not to buy from them in the future. Childish, true, but it makes me feel better at the time to think that there is the *possibility* their advert has had a negative effect on me...)

        6 0 Reply
      2. Darryl
        Reply Icon

        Re: Very different from magazines

        Those annoying stiff card ads bound into the magazine are the print version of the pop-up ads on websites that move around and play audio.

        I remember Car and Driver waaay back when promised that if you subscribed to the magazine, you'd always receive a copy with none of those irritating cards stuck inside.

        0 0 Reply
    2. Anonymous Coward
      Reply Icon
      Windows

      Re: Very different from magazines

      Speak for yourself buddy. I always remove magazine adverts with scissors before reading articles.

      5 2 Reply
      1. Andy Non Silver badge
        Reply Icon

        Re: Very different from magazines

        Today I bought a newspaper for the first time in a very long while based on an interesting front page article. As I picked it up some loose ad cards and leaflets fell out of the middle so I just tipped the rest out and left them on the news stand. I don't mind printed ads in the paper and generally skip over them but I'm not taking extra litter home.

        8 0 Reply
    3. Triggerfish
      Reply Icon

      Re: Very different from magazines

      No the advert to content ratio in them has actually grown so much I rarely buy magazines anywmore, why pay £6-8 for a glossy magazine of adverts, postman drops the same shit through my door everyday as free junk mail.

      11 0 Reply
      1. heyrick Silver badge
        Reply Icon

        Re: Very different from magazines

        Isn't that what eventually did in Computer Shopper - when people realised that they were paying for an insane advert:content ratio?

        6 0 Reply
        1. Tom 13
          Reply Icon

          Re: Isn't that what eventually did in Computer Shopper

          Nope. I actually use to buy it FOR the ads. Their content was crap.

          What did them (and pretty much all the rest of the print PC mags) in was the internet. You had tech savvy people who understood it, it cut costs for everybody, you could do direct comparisons, and you could save a week by ordering on line.

          I suppose I should note one of the useful features of the ads back then was they frequently listed prices for key items.

          9 1 Reply
          1. Alan Brown Silver badge
            Reply Icon

            Re: Isn't that what eventually did in Computer Shopper

            "Nope. I actually use to buy it FOR the ads. Their content was crap."

            That was the point. But eventually it went from some of the ads being crap to most of them.

            Ads are supposed to pay for the magazine/newspaper (what you pay bears little relationship to production costs and is more related to distribution, plus "what the market will bear").

            On the internet the same thing applies, but the same as I stopped reading mags which over time became more useless ads vs useful copy, I'll stop using a site if the copy is bad - but in the meantime I tend to block the ads because they're intrusive.

            (I'll bring up the subject of bandwidth charges, especially on mobiles. Webvertisers and spammers all think that the Internet is free, but that's because the recipient is paying.)

            0 0 Reply
    4. Tom 13
      Reply Icon

      Re: Very different from magazines

      And the print ads never scrolled over on top of the article you were reading while you were trying to do so.

      14 1 Reply
    5. Paul Shirley
      Reply Icon

      Re: Very different from magazines

      I'm pretty sure it could take 30sec finding the 1st real page in some of those 1000page monster magazines. I think it was Watford that had the genius idea of booking the pages before the real content AND having a smaller page size for their catalog and a natural bookmark, helping skip past the ads while still showing you theirs!

      2 0 Reply
  5. Charlie Clark Silver badge

    54 per cent of those surveyed (and more 18-24s) said they’d turn the blocker off to reach a particular site or service

    Sounds like "do what I say, not what I do".

    Polls like this remind me of those that regularly demand more spending and lower taxes: people know that they are not accountable for such opinions.

    4 1 Reply
    1. allthecoolshortnamesweretaken
      Reply Icon

      True. Everybody lies to a man with a clipboard.

      It is also a well established fact that 57,3 % of all statistics used to make a point in any discussion are made up on the spot.

      6 0 Reply
      1. Anonymous Coward
        Reply Icon
        Joke

        It is also a well established fact that 57,3 % of all statistics used to make a point in any discussion are made up on the spot.

        I'll think you'll find the latest survey put it at 73.75%

        3 0 Reply
        1. JetSetJim
          Reply Icon
          Joke

          Meh - 85% of all statistics on the internet are made up. So said Abe Lincoln, and this site is selling a bargain wooden plaque to commemorate this.

          2 1 Reply
  6. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    More and more Brits are using ad-blockers, says survey

    wonderful job with those surveys, almost as good as with the ICO!

    1 1 Reply
  7. Doctor Syntax Silver badge

    'The IAB wants more consumer-friendly and “lighter” ads to fend off an “Adpocalypse”.'

    They should have thought of that a few years ago and not just "wanted" but insisted. It's far too late now. Welcome to the Adpocalypse.

    22 0 Reply
    1. MrXavia
      Reply Icon

      agreed, as soon as these damned auto-play audio and video ads appeared, adblock stayed on

      I now use it to remove other crud from sites that are full of non-ad but infuriating things (such as facebook constantly trying to get me to add friends i don't want!!)

      2 0 Reply
  8. Steve Crook

    Ad free please

    I'd rather pay £25 a year and have an ad free service from all the sites I visit. Hell will freeze over before I click on an advert in a browser, so the best anyone's going to get is thousandth's of a penny per ad per page view.

    I pay a central service, and like the performing rights society it divvies out a sum to all the sites I visit. Top up as and when necessary.

    6 0 Reply
    1. Charlie Clark Silver badge
      Reply Icon

      Re: Ad free please

      So, what do you think of the idea I had for a "PayPal" browser that would allow you to do just that?

      1 0 Reply
      1. Steve Crook
        Reply Icon

        Re: Ad free please

        Sounded just like the sort of thing I've been looking for.

        0 0 Reply

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