Globally, 18% of internet users adopt an ad block type program while the European average reaches 30%, with Germany (39%) and France (34%) on top of the ranking with the highest percentages.
The situation in the CEE region is rapidly changing although we can’t talk yet about the figures from Western Europe.
In Romania, the increase is over 100% from last year
Tailwind Romania, using Oriel technology, endorsed by IAB Romania and BRAT performed a study on 3.832 users, visitors to 85 of the largest Romanian websites.
And the results are very clear, we’re talking about a rate of ad block users that doubled since last year: from 13.9% to 29.26%, desktop only.
In addition to the previous study, mobile devices and tablets have been now taken into account. This leads to an average result of 11.86%, which places Romania below the figures registered in developed markets.
“12% is a figure that places Romania in a cozy zone, compared to other European countries”, Arina Ureche, BRAT
“We should all want an interactive environment where companies and users are equal partners”, Ionut Oprea, IAB Romania
“If we don’t assume that we have to respect our users, online communication development will continue without us”, Calin Rotarus, Tailwind Romania
Who’s the user of the ad block programs in Romania?
- Male (67.7%) aged between 18 and 44 (65.9%)
- Employed or manager/ entrepreneur (53.7%)
- 61% of users have higher education – undergraduate and graduate
- 4% of the users are aged between 25-34, and 22.2% are aged between 35-44
The situation is slightly different in Greece, for example, where the 30% percentage was exceeded since last year. [source]
“The first in-depth, extensive research on Ad blocking in Greece shows that while the challenge is existent, it has not reached ‘overwhelming’ dimensions”, Odysseas Ntotsikas, TDG
“Looking at the qualitative results, obviously, the message is clear to all the advertising market, which is faced with a huge challenge: advertising needs to be attractive and useful, and most of all, it needs to make its recipient wanting to receive it!”, Xenia Kourtoglou, Focus Bari
And the differences between Greece and Romania go further, especially if we look at the chart illustrating the ad block users profiles:
- A higher percentage of women who use ad blocking
- More users aged between 25-34
Why have the users installed an ad blocker and which are the most affected websites?
The most irritating ads for the Romanian internet users are the ones that are blocking the access to the website content (95.2%), followed by the ads that are moving the site content plus the video ones where the sound starts automatically.
- Top 3 browsers when we talk about ad blocking in Romania: Chrome (22.2%), Mozilla Firefox (12.1%) and Internet Explorer (5.3%).
Websites that show the highest percentage of use of blockers for online advertising (regardless of the device used) are from Culinary (21%), Video & TV Online (20.7%), Music and Audio (15.7%), local news and analysis (15.4%) and leisure recommendations (15.2%) categories.
What’s important to mention here is that there is a very high percentage of users who express intent to adopt ad blocking programs in the future.
“92.9% of users claimed that they would continue to use an ad blocker in the future”, Aidan Joyce, Oriel
“Clients, media and creative agencies plus the content producers must sit at the same table, to make common cause and implement clear measures to improve the campaigns standards”, Dragos Stanca, TDG
For the Greek version of the study, click here.
