This document analyzes ad blocking rates and the impact on video monetization globally based on a study of 1 billion devices from April to June 2015. Some key findings include: 62% of desktop video time in Germany is not monetized due to ad blocking, compared to 26% in the US and 43% in Canada. Time spent watching digital video is increasing rapidly across all ages and devices. The rise of ad blocking threatens significant lost revenue for publishers, estimated at 35% in Germany and 25% in the US. Ad blocking is highest in developed markets but is expected to grow substantially in emerging economies.
2. 2SECRET MEDIA | ADBLOCK AND THE GLOBAL VIDEO MARKET
About The Company
Secret Media, launched in 2014, is a New York based advertising
technology company focused on providing the advertising industry
with a solution to adblockers.
We serve both publishers and advertisers in our quest to create a new
advertising experience for ad block users, centered around video.
Our technology allows us to serve video to ad block users, thereby
monetizing valuable ad blocked inventory and creating a new value
exchange between digital publishers and internet users.
Our product range includes:
- an ad block measurement tool to help publishers quantify their
ad block problem
- our proprietary video restoring technology that ensures videos
are served.
3. 3SECRET MEDIA | ADBLOCK AND THE GLOBAL VIDEO MARKET
Methodology
From April to June 2015, we had the opportunity to measure the presence of
adblockers on 1 billion devices (tablet, mobile, desktop). As a result, we were
able to calculate ad blocking rates in 42 countries with real accuracy. In each
of these countries we reached 30% or more of the internet-using population.
(data powered by JW Player)
Thailand
Turkey
Greece
Italy
Georgia
Croatia
New Zealand
Portugal
Belgium
Israel
Austria
France
Argentina
Sweden
Germany
Norway
Denmark
Chile
Australia
Serbia
Spain
Bulgaria
Canada
Algeria
Netherlands
Romania
Ireland
United Kingdom
United States
Vietnam
Pakistan
Ukraine
Peru
Brazil
Poland
Finland
Hong Kong
Russia
Malaysia
Czech Republic
Mexico
Tunisia
From April - June 2015, we
studied the ad block usage of
1/4
of the world’s 3 billion
unique internet users
4. 4SECRET MEDIA | ADBLOCK AND THE GLOBAL VIDEO MARKET
About This Report
Section 1: Adblockers Block All
Section 2: Adblock Is On The Rise
Section 3: Market Moving Towards Digital Video
Section 4: Consumers Moving Towards Digital Video
Section 5: Unmonetized Video Time due to Adblock: North America
Section 6: Unmonetized Video Time due to Adblock: Europe
Section 7: Unmonetized Video Time due to Adblock: Global
Section 8: Adblock’s Impact On Revevnues
Section 9: AdBlocking In Developing Countries
Section 10: Important take-aways
Section 11: Sources
5. 5SECRET MEDIA | ADBLOCK AND THE GLOBAL VIDEO MARKET
Adblockers Block All
Many believe that ad blockers simply mask ads for users but that
impressions are still counted. In reality, the code of the page is
modified so that ad servers are not even called.
• Adblockers can come in the form of hardware or software
• Ad blockers remove elements from the display of webpages
• The primary target of ad blockers is advertising
ad blockers also remove a number of other elements including
widgets, sharing links, and all types of measurement trackers
• Ad blockers block the entire advertising technology chain
from the DSP, to the SSP, to the retargeter.
pre-roll ad in videos
banners
native banners
sponsored links
self-promotion widgets
recommendation widgets
pop-up ads
sharing widgets
skins
intrusiveness’ effectiveness
depend on each specific case
subject to adblocking
Webpage Elements
Subject To Adblocking
6. 6SECRET MEDIA | ADBLOCK AND THE GLOBAL VIDEO MARKET
Adblock Is On The Rise
Adblock Plus breaks off
from the open source
AdBlock project and sets
up operations in Germany.
2006 2014 201520132012 2016
39 m
54 m
121 m
181 m
Between May and
June 2015, there were
new Adblock users
8.4
million
According to PageFair and Adobe, global ad block use
grew by 41% year on year between Q2 2014 Q2 2015
Our data from May to June 2015 indicated that there
was an additional 8.4 million new ad block users
around the world in the span of one month.
7. 7SECRET MEDIA | ADBLOCK AND THE GLOBAL VIDEO MARKET
Market Moving Towards Digital Video
Video is the fastest growing advertising category. It is
an increasingly preferred medium for users accross
all devices and therefore a preferred advertising tool.
2011
digital video ad and spending (billions)
U.S. World
2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 classified
5.2% 7.9%
19.5%
10%
Global wired Internet advertising market by sub-segment CAGR (%) 2014-2019
search display video
10 -
9 -
8 -
7 -
6 -
5 -
4 -
3 -
2 -
1 -
0 -
25% -
20% -
15% -
10% -
5% -
0% -
In the U.S. - digital video
ad spending will pass
Video’s compound annual
growth rate is projected at
in 2017
between 2014-2019
9billion 19.5%
8. 8SECRET MEDIA | ADBLOCK AND THE GLOBAL VIDEO MARKET
Consumers Moving Towards Digital Video
The IAB suggests using “time spent” as the primary metric for
video. Engagement and ROI can be measured in terms of how
much time a user spent watching a video.
In Q2 2014,
18 - 34 year olds spent
watching digital video
(desktop mobile)
55minutes
per day
The number of minutes per day across all age groups will
grow by 23.3% in 2015 and by a further 19.8% in 2016.
2015
2016
9. 9SECRET MEDIA | ADBLOCK AND THE GLOBAL VIDEO MARKET
Unmonetized Video Time Due To Adblock: North America
We measured seconds spent watching video on desktop
by both adblock and non-adblock users to calculate the
video consumption that was unable to be monetized.
CanadaUnited States
of time spent of time spent
in front of video
is not monetized
26% 43%
in front of desktop
video is adblocked
10. 10SECRET MEDIA | ADBLOCK AND THE GLOBAL VIDEO MARKET
Unmonetized Video Time In Europe
62%
53%
41%
42%
41%
33%
Germany, home to AdBlock Plus and one of the most developed
European markets for digital video, is a good example at what
AdBlock saturation looks like. 62% of time spent in front of
desktop video is blocked from monetization in Germany.
Germany 62%
Austria 53%
United Kingdom 42%
Greece 42%
Spain 41%
Poland 40%
Portugal 39%
Finland 38%
Sweden 37%
Ireland 37%
Romania 36%
Croatia 35%
Norway 34%
France 33%
Belgium 30%
Denmark 29%
Italy 26%
11. 11SECRET MEDIA | ADBLOCK AND THE GLOBAL VIDEO MARKET
Unmonetized Video Time Due To Adblock: Global
The top 28 countries for adblocked video time
Germany 62%
Austria 53%
Canada 43%
United Kingdom 42%
Greece 42%
Spain 41%
Poland 40%
Portugal 39%
New Zealand 38%
Australia 38%
Finland 38%
Sweden 37%
Ireland 37%
Romania 36%
Croatia 35%
Norway 34%
France 33%
Belgium 30%
Denmark 29%
Colombia 28%
Israel 26%
Italy 26%
Chile 26%
Mexico 26%
United States 25%
Ukraine 25%
Argentina 23%
Ecuador 23%
Russia 22%
MA Morocco 20%
12. 12SECRET MEDIA | ADBLOCK AND THE GLOBAL VIDEO MARKET
Adblock’s Impact On Revevnues
United States
0%
25%
50%
75%
100%
Germany
35% 263%
in revenues in revenues
Publishers could dramatically increase their video ad
inventory if they could fix Ad blocking.
13. 13SECRET MEDIA | ADBLOCK AND THE GLOBAL VIDEO MARKET
Ad Blocking In Developing Countries
Currently, adblocking is highest in developed countries where
advertisng budgets are the largest.
As world economics change in the coming years, it can be
safely assumed that adblock usage will expand in currently
developing ad markets.
In 2018, Brazil
will become the
In 2014, China
became the Indonesia will have the
advertising market
(surpassing the
UK Germany)
mobile ad market
(surpassing the
UK Japan)
of digital advertising
of any country each year
througout our forecast
4th
largest 2nd
largest
largest
growth rate
14. 14SECRET MEDIA | ADBLOCK AND THE GLOBAL VIDEO MARKET
Important Takeaways
26%time spent watching
desktop video in the U.S.
is not monetized due
to Adblockers
62%time time spent
watching desktop video in
Germany is not monetized
due to Adblockers
Time spent consuming
video is increasing
in all age categories,
across all devices
Europe should serve as
an example to the U.S. for
what an adblock saturated
market looks like
Publishers should be
wary of adblock growth
in developing countries
and the rise of
mobile video
15. 15SECRET MEDIA | ADBLOCK AND THE GLOBAL VIDEO MARKET
Sources
Slide 6 PageFair Study
http://downloads.pagefair.com/reports/2015_report-the_cost_of_ad_blocking.pdf
Slide 7 US digital ad spend
http://marketingland.com/report-online-video-ads-to-
eclipse-4-billion-in-2013-43726
Slide 7 World ad spend
http://www.pwc.com/gx/en/global-entertainment-media-outlook/assets/2015/
internet-advertising-key-insights-4-video-exhibits.pdf
Slide 8 Time spent per day = 55 min desktop mobile
http://dazeinfo.com/2014/05/03/tablet-video-viewership-beat-desktops-smartphones-u-s-149-
million-viewers-tablet-2018/
Slide 8 Time spent will increase 23.3% in 2015 and 19.8
http://www.zenithoptimedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Online-Video-Forecasts-2015.pdf
Slide 13 World-wide ad spending
http://www.emarketer.com/newsroom/index.php/emarketer-launches-interactive-guide-world-
wide-ad-spending/#RTrqq95QB4z4SjXJ.99