Blocked Ads: A Study on Effective Strategies to Bypass Ad Blockers

Advertising is something that everyone encounters daily, whether they are watching various videos on the internet, reading news, or looking for specific products. For instance, when it comes to radio or TV, it is possible to avoid advertisements by utilizing streaming services or selecting specific channels. However, avoiding ads on the internet is much more challenging. Online marketing is extremely unsatisfactory for users, and each time it appears, it makes them uncomfortable.

Yet the problems that cannot be solved practically do not actually exist. In this situation, many internet users are aided by ad blockers. Today, we will discuss what ad blockers represent, the issues they create for advertisers of those very ads, and how they can be bypassed.

How Ad Blockers Work

Ad blockers are programs or extensions that make ads invisible to users, meaning they filter them out. They usually appear as components of certain browsers, but can be downloaded separately as programs with that function or installed as browser extensions.

Essentially, these programs focus on blocking requests that load ad content in browsers. As a result, when a user navigates to a site, they will only see the content they wish to see while unnecessary ads are hidden from them.

Characteristics of Ad Blockers

Based on the statistics from Brian Dean of Backlinko, it can be noted that over 42% of internet users consistently use programs that filter marketing ads. For example, one of the most popular extensions known as AdBlock is used by around 65 million people within the age group of 16 to 24. The majority of ad blockers are free for users. This increases the number of users who might not even consider the need to install such software.

What primarily drives people to install ad blockers? Approximately 23% of users state that ads are overly intrusive and disrupt their ability to familiarize themselves with the core content of a site. There are also other reasons why people dislike ads:

• They can take up too much space on the screen.
• They may compromise personal data security.
• They can contain viruses and cause operational issues with computers.

However, while most people find ads irritating, they also use block functionality for other reasons. For instance, ads can often be perceived as something dangerous or irritating. Additionally, users complain that most advertisements do not target them accurately. This indicates that they never utilize the presented services or purchase the advertised products. The goal of marketers, on the other hand, is contradictory—to attract clients with the help of targeted ads.

There is also the issue that people do not find standard advertising appealing, as they have become accustomed to it. But with ad blockers, they are trying to distance themselves even from it. In connection with this, marketers constantly suggest new and interesting ways to showcase their products.

What Can Marketers Do?

To engage people with advertisements and encourage them to purchase various products, marketers can employ the following methods:

• Embed ads only on sites that do not allow user access with enabled ad blockers; this is effective but can backfire as users might not visit that site, forcing them to disable programs that filter ads. Ultimately, they will end up on a competitor’s website.
• Complement standard and prevalent ads with new and fresh ideas. For example, adding textual materials related to sponsored statistics can be beneficial. They are presented in the brand name’s identity, serving two purposes: promoting the brand while allowing individuals to engage their minds while reading. They can carry informational or entertaining characteristics.

Advertising in the form of banners or any media has long been subject to avoidance, and people try to evade it. However, sponsored materials are completely unobtrusive that users often do not even see the ads within them.

Users will transition to a link where the sponsored material is featured if the information contained is genuinely valuable and interesting. It is much more engaging to read an article about the history of a brand’s development or the story of its activities than to simply look at product images or logos. Traditional ads often get overlooked, and the brand remains unknown. Sponsored articles, however, can be appealing, causing individuals to recall the brand name or its history. And this is exactly what is needed!