Mobile adblock usage explodes in Asia-Pacific, not so much in the U.S.

A new study shows mobile adblock usage increased 40% in the Asia-Pacific region in 2016. For perspective, 58% of Indonesians block mobile ads compared to 1% of Americans.

The study, commissioned by PageFair, shows that mobile adblock usage significantly outpaces desktop worldwide by a 2 to 1 margin.

Overall, adblock use increased by 30% globally in 2016, with 11% of all Internet users employing adblock technology on their mobile or desktop devices.

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Data: PageFair; Chart: Andrew Witherspoon / Axios

Why? Asian-pacific markets are powered by consumer demand for speed and functionality, and as Pagefair notes, are accelerated by distribution partnerships with telecom companies and device manufacturers. PageFair predicts that adblocking will become more prevalent in the U.S. and Europe once manufacturers make adblocking technologies a standard part of product development.

Why it matters: The rise of adblockers has forced publishers to reconsider how their ad structures affect user experience and drop off. Some publishers argue that ad blockers violate an implicit agreement between internet users and publishers that ads are the fee they pay to access content. But one ad executives says ad-blockers are a good thing, since they can be used to measure how invasive their ad experience is and improve it. (Most publishers can see when a user visits their site with an ad blocker implemented for them specifically.) In response to the increase of adblockers in the market, online publishers are exploring new digital revenue structures, like native ads and subscriptions.