Poland ranked second in Europe… in the ranking of countries whose internet users most frequently block online ads. As many as 37% of internet users in Poland use ad blockers like AdBlock. Only Greek internet users block more ads on the continent.
Global ad blocking
For publishers, ad blocking is a serious issue. According to eMarketer research, publishers lost nearly 22 billion USD (about EUR 18.5 billion) from ad blocking last year, and losses are expected to rise by 4.8 billion USD (about EUR 4.1 billion) this year. The global ad-blocking market is growing at a double-digit pace annually, with the number of users increasing by an average of 41% per year. Estimates suggest there are now over 198 million users blocking ads in browsers worldwide. Over 40 million users globally rely on AdBlock alone, the most popular ad-blocking tool.
Europe leads in ad blocking
Experts say that one in ten ad impressions (views or page loads) is blocked by tools like AdBlock. On the most popular websites, nearly half of all impressions are blocked, meaning only one in two internet users sees an ad for which advertisers paid. The GlobalWebIndex report notes that Europe is at the forefront of continents pushing ads out of browsers: nearly one in three ad-blocking internet users comes from the region. Men aged 16-25 are the most likely to install various browser extensions.
"National block"
According to statistics from Cloud Technologies, Poland is the country where almost 7 million internet users employ browser ad blockers. Based on this number, Poland ranks fifth globally. Thus, Polish browsers are particularly inhospitable to advertisers. Ad-blocking tools have become a giant problem for advertisers and publishers alike. Some publishers — seeking to discourage users from using such tools — have decided to restrict access to content for those blocking ads. As a result, only users who disable ad-blocking tools (like Adblock) would gain access to specific websites. However, such practices could be… illegal.
How AdBlock gained popularity
Ad blocking in Poland vs. Europe and the world
Ad-blocking tools like AdBlock, Adblock Plus, uBlock, or NoScript owe their market success to… aggressive advertisers who once lost all sense of moderation and flooded the internet with intrusive and poorly targeted formats, generating user resentment and frustration. Their math was relatively simple: the larger and more "loud" the ad, the more people would notice the product. This strategy quickly proved ineffective. Internet users stopped noticing advertisers’ messages and became immune to them. The only metric that rose was irritation levels. This very factor launched the careers of programs designed to neutralize pervasive online ads.
