NYT: ‘Rise of Ad-Blocking Software Threatens Online Revenue’

Mark Scott, writing for the NYT:

Already, 36 percent of the smartphone users in the Asia-Pacific region have so-called ad-blocking browsers on their mobile devices, allowing them to remove online ads when they use the Internet. In India and Indonesia — two of the world’s fastest-growing Internet markets — that figure is almost two-thirds of smartphone users, according to the report.

Still, only 4.3 million Americans, or 2.2 percent of smartphone owners, used ad blockers — through browsers or other services — on their smartphones as of March. By comparison, 159 million people in China have installed ad-blocking software on their cellphones, the report said.

I’m surprised the difference is that vast. What explains the disparity? Are ads in Asia that much worse?

Update: Near-unanimous consensus that it’s two factors: (a) Asia cellular plans have severe data caps, and (b) the ads are way more obtrusive than they are here.

★ Tuesday, 31 May 2016