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

4.
March 2019 / Page 3marketing.scienceconsulting group, inc.
linkedin.com/in/augustinefou
Consumer Content 2
iPhone
RAW (percent of data)
Adblock:0 Adblock:1
29.0% 0.1% 0.3% mobile blocking rate
0.2% not measured
29.3%
iPad
RAW (percent of data)
Adblock:0 Adblock:1
5.4% 0.1% 0.9% mobile blocking rate
0.0% not measured
5.5%
Android
RAW (percent of data)
Adblock:0 Adblock:1
29.3% 0.3% 1.0% mobile blocking rate
0.6% not measured
30.1%
Windows
RAW (percent of data)
Adblock:0 Adblock:1
15.5% 3.0% 16.3% desktop blocking rate
0.2% not measured
18.6%
Macintel
RAW (percent of data)
Adblock:0 Adblock:1
3.0% 0.4% 11.3% desktop blocking rate
0.0% not measured
3.4%
x86_64 (ChromeOS)
RAW (percent of data)
Adblock:0 Adblock:1
0.7% 0.1% 16.1% desktop blocking rate
0.0% not measured
0.9%
RAW (percent of data)
Adblock:0 Adblock:1
63.9% 0.4% 0.7% mobile blocking rate
19.6% 3.6% 15.4% desktop blocking rate
7.1% not measured
94.6% 5.4% bots

5.
March 2019 / Page 4marketing.scienceconsulting group, inc.
linkedin.com/in/augustinefou
Consumer Content 3
iPhone
RAW (percent of data)
Adblock:0 Adblock:1
20.6% 0.1% 0.3% mobile blocking rate
0.2% not measured
20.9%
iPad
RAW (percent of data)
Adblock:0 Adblock:1
5.8% 0.1% 1.0% mobile blocking rate
0.0% not measured
5.9%
Android
RAW (percent of data)
Adblock:0 Adblock:1
20.6% 0.4% 2.0% mobile blocking rate
0.7% not measured
21.7%
Windows
RAW (percent of data)
Adblock:0 Adblock:1
18.4% 4.3% 19.1% desktop blocking rate
0.4% not measured
23.1%
Macintel
RAW (percent of data)
Adblock:0 Adblock:1
9.5% 1.6% 14.5% desktop blocking rate
0.1% not measured
11.2%
x86_64 (ChromeOS)
RAW (percent of data)
Adblock:0 Adblock:1
0.9% 0.3% 23.2% desktop blocking rate
0.0% not measured
1.2%
RAW (percent of data)
Adblock:0 Adblock:1
47.6% 0.6% 1.2% mobile blocking rate
29.3% 6.3% 17.7% desktop blocking rate
6.6% not measured
90.3% 9.7% 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