Ad Blocking by Browser US March 2019

1. March 2019 / Page 0marketing.scienceconsulting group, inc. linkedin.com/in/augustinefou Ad Blocking by Browser U.S., March 2019 March 2019 Augustine Fou, PhD. acfou [at] mktsci.com 212. 203 .7239

2. March 2019 / Page 1marketing.scienceconsulting group, inc. linkedin.com/in/augustinefou Measurement Notes Direct measurement is necessary, measurement done on-site • Ad blocking must be measured on-site. In-ad measurements are invalid because the ad should not have been called if ad blocking were on. • Ad blocking is measured on-site by deliberately calling an asset called ad.gif and seeing what percent fails (blocked) and what percent loads • Desktop and mobile must be separated because ad blocking in mobile is very low (no plugins for mobile browsers, and most consumers don’t regularly use ad blocking browsers, they use built-in browsers) • Bots must be excluded because bots don’t block ads (their job is to cause them to load); if not excluded, bots skew blocking numbers lower • The percent of data that cannot be measured also needs to be disclosed because ad blockers block tracking and measurement tags • B2C sites have way more mobile; B2B sites have more non-mobile

3. March 2019 / Page 2marketing.scienceconsulting group, inc. linkedin.com/in/augustinefou Consumer Content 1 iPhone RAW (percent of data) Adblock:0 Adblock:1 37.1% 0.5% 1.2% mobile blocking rate 0.2% not measured 37.8% iPad RAW (percent of data) Adblock:0 Adblock:1 8.8% 0.1% 0.6% mobile blocking rate 0.0% not measured 8.9% Android RAW (percent of data) Adblock:0 Adblock:1 24.1% 0.2% 0.8% mobile blocking rate 0.6% not measured 24.9% Windows RAW (percent of data) Adblock:0 Adblock:1 12.0% 1.7% 12.2% desktop blocking rate 0.2% not measured 13.9% Macintel RAW (percent of data) Adblock:0 Adblock:1 6.3% 0.7% 10.5% desktop blocking rate 0.0% not measured 7.1% x86_64 (ChromeOS) RAW (percent of data) Adblock:0 Adblock:1 0.7% 0.1% 10.1% desktop blocking rate 0.0% not measured 0.8% RAW (percent of data) Adblock:0 Adblock:1 70.4% 0.4% 0.6% mobile blocking rate 19.4% 2.5% 11.6% desktop blocking rate 5.3% not measured 98.1% 1.9% bots

6. March 2019 / Page 5marketing.scienceconsulting group, inc. linkedin.com/in/augustinefou Consumer Content 4 iPhone RAW (percent of data) Adblock:0 Adblock:1 9.3% 0.1% 0.6% mobile blocking rate 0.0% not measured 9.4% iPad RAW (percent of data) Adblock:0 Adblock:1 6.5% 0.1% 1.1% mobile blocking rate 0.0% not measured 6.6% Android RAW (percent of data) Adblock:0 Adblock:1 13.2% 0.1% 0.7% mobile blocking rate 0.1% not measured 13.4% RAW (percent of data) Adblock:0 Adblock:1 48.3% 8.1% 14.3% desktop blocking rate 0.1% not measured 56.5% Macintel RAW (percent of data) Adblock:0 Adblock:1 7.3% 0.8% 10.2% desktop blocking rate 0.0% not measured 8.1% x86_64 (ChromeOS) RAW (percent of data) Adblock:0 Adblock:1 1.1% 0.2% 13.6% desktop blocking rate 0.0% not measured 1.3% RAW (percent of data) Adblock:0 Adblock:1 29.0% 0.2% 0.8% mobile blocking rate 57.0% 9.1% 13.7% desktop blocking rate 2.9% not measured 98.3% 1.7% bots

7. March 2019 / Page 6marketing.scienceconsulting group, inc. linkedin.com/in/augustinefou Consumer eCommerce iPhone RAW (percent of data) Adblock:0 Adblock:1 39.0% 0.1% 0.2% mobile blocking rate 0.1% not measured 39.2% iPad RAW (percent of data) Adblock:0 Adblock:1 7.3% 0.0% 0.3% mobile blocking rate 0.0% not measured 7.3% Android RAW (percent of data) Adblock:0 Adblock:1 20.4% 0.2% 0.7% mobile blocking rate 0.3% not measured 20.9% Windows RAW (percent of data) Adblock:0 Adblock:1 13.4% 1.5% 10.2% desktop blocking rate 0.1% not measured 15.0% Macintel RAW (percent of data) Adblock:0 Adblock:1 9.0% 0.8% 8.0% desktop blocking rate 0.0% not measured 9.8% x86_64 (ChromeOS) RAW (percent of data) Adblock:0 Adblock:1 1.0% 0.1% 9.3% desktop blocking rate 0.1% not measured 1.1% RAW (percent of data) Adblock:0 Adblock:1 66.8% 0.2% 0.4% mobile blocking rate 23.7% 2.4% 9.3% desktop blocking rate 4.0% not measured 97.2% 2.8% bots

8. March 2019 / Page 7marketing.scienceconsulting group, inc. linkedin.com/in/augustinefou Business Content 1 iPhone RAW (percent of data) Adblock:0 Adblock:1 9.3% 0.1% 0.5% mobile blocking rate 0.1% not measured 9.4% iPad RAW (percent of data) Adblock:0 Adblock:1 1.9% 0.0% 0.5% mobile blocking rate 0.0% not measured 1.9% Android RAW (percent of data) Adblock:0 Adblock:1 7.5% 0.2% 2.5% mobile blocking rate 0.2% not measured 7.9% Windows RAW (percent of data) Adblock:0 Adblock:1 32.1% 3.9% 10.8% desktop blocking rate 0.6% not measured 36.6% Macintel RAW (percent of data) Adblock:0 Adblock:1 8.0% 1.1% 11.8% desktop blocking rate 0.0% not measured 9.1% x86_64 (ChromeOS) RAW (percent of data) Adblock:0 Adblock:1 0.6% 0.1% 14.5% desktop blocking rate 0.0% not measured 0.7% RAW (percent of data) Adblock:0 Adblock:1 19.0% 0.3% 1.7% mobile blocking rate 41.0% 5.1% 11.1% desktop blocking rate 7.8% not measured 73.2% 26.8% bots

9. March 2019 / Page 8marketing.scienceconsulting group, inc. linkedin.com/in/augustinefou Business Content 2 iPhone RAW (percent of data) Adblock:0 Adblock:1 6.1% 0.1% 0.8% mobile blocking rate 0.0% not measured 6.2% iPad RAW (percent of data) Adblock:0 Adblock:1 3.5% 0.0% 0.8% mobile blocking rate 0.0% not measured 3.6% Android RAW (percent of data) Adblock:0 Adblock:1 5.1% 0.1% 2.3% mobile blocking rate 0.1% not measured 5.3% Windows RAW (percent of data) Adblock:0 Adblock:1 37.1% 4.3% 10.3% desktop blocking rate 0.4% not measured 41.7% Macintel RAW (percent of data) Adblock:0 Adblock:1 11.9% 1.4% 10.6% desktop blocking rate 0.1% not measured 13.4% x86_64 (ChromeOS) RAW (percent of data) Adblock:0 Adblock:1 0.9% 0.1% 10.2% desktop blocking rate 0.0% not measured 1.0% RAW (percent of data) Adblock:0 Adblock:1 14.9% 0.2% 1.4% mobile blocking rate 50.3% 5.8% 10.4% desktop blocking rate 11.5% not measured 82.6% 17.4% bots

10. March 2019 / Page 9marketing.scienceconsulting group, inc. linkedin.com/in/augustinefou Excluding bots is necessary Bots don’t block ads, so they skew blocking numbers lower Publisher A (Jan 2019) RAW (percent of data) percent NOT Blocked Blocked mobile 15.2% 0.3% 1.6% blocking rate desktop 69.5% 4.8% 6.5% blocking rate not measured 10.2% 100.0% bots not excluded • Bots skew ad blocking lower, should be excluded • Bots are mostly non-mobile, so the “desktop” number was most affected by bots. Publisher A (Jan 2019) EXCLUDE BOTS RAW (percent of data) percent Adblock:0 Adblock:1 mobile 15.0% 0.3% 1.6% blocking rate desktop 32.0% 4.6% 12.5% blocking rate not measured 7.2% 59.1% 40.9% bots excluded

Ad Blocking by Browser US March 2019

Dr. Augustine Fou - Independent Ad Fraud Researcher

Ad Blocking by Browser US March 2019