Per PageFair: 1 Out Of 5 Mobile Users Have Ad-Blockers On Their Device

According to a report published by PageFair regarding the usage of ad blocking software on mobile devices, more than one out of five users have ad blockers on their smartphones. Specifically, PageFair’s findings indicate that at least 419 million mobile users are making use of existing tools to stop ads from appearing on their handsets. That figure is equivalent to about 22 percent of the estimated total 1.9 billion smartphone owners around the world right now.

Per PageFair’s report, of the 419 million mobile users that take advantage of ad blocking software, over 400 million of them use tools that automatically block ads. It is no surprise that a huge chunk of them are based in China and India, two of the biggest mobile markets across the globe today. In China, there are 159 million users of ad blockers, while in India, that number is around 122 million.

On an interesting note, use of ad blocking software is less rampant in the North American and European mobile markets. As a matter of fact, PageFair’s findings show that there were only 14 million active users of ad blockers in the two regions combined. Still, this may change soon -- Three UK, a mobile service provider based in the United Kingdom just became the first wireless carrier based in Europe to use ad blockers at a network level, and many more are expected to follow in its footsteps. What about in the United States? PageFair’s data indicates that only 2.3 million mobile users based in the US make use of ad blockers

It should be noted that PageFair is a firm that has found much success in providing anti-ad-blocking solutions to various clients. Having said that, some may view this report as nothing more than an attempt by this company to highlight statistics related to ad blocking to content publishers and of course, ad creators. With the rising popularity of ad blocking software tools, those parties that do earn revenues from advertising will likely be affected. 

Also, the report from PageFair seem to suggest that rampant use of ad blockers may be more connected to pricey data services and slow user experience than to the quality of the ads themselves. The report noted that while ad blockers help enhance web loading speeds and minimize band consumption, they are often more utilized in markets wherein mobile networks are not that developed, leading to slower connections or high costs.

To browse PageFair’s report in detail, you can go read it here.