Greg Sterling says, “In August last year, Adobe and PageFair reported that the global number of ad-blocking users had grown from 21 million in 2009 to just under 200 million in mid-2015. Earlier today, PageFair (and Priori Data) released a new mobile ad-blocking report that asserts there are now roughly 419 million mobile ad blockers around the globe.

In other words, the numbers have doubled in about a year. Approximately 22 percent of smartphone users worldwide are blocking ads. Asia is where ad blocking is most widely practiced. It’s “less developed” in North America and Europe, according to the report’s findings.

The most popular and widely adopted method of ad blocking is now mobile browser-based. PageFair said that it identified “45 different ad-blocking browsers available for download on iOS and Android.” But by far the most commonly used ad-blocking browser is the UC browser, which is owned by Alibaba.

The UC browser is now the second most popular mobile browser in the world, according to StatCounter, behind Chrome and ahead of Safari. Its largest markets are China, India, Vietnam, Russia and Indonesia”.

Report: Ad blocking users more than double in a year to almost 420 million globally

Marketing Land

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