Just how many web users have ad blockers? #chartoftheday

A study by YouGov in association with Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) has found that ad blocking use has declined between February and July, previous to that ad blocking software use was increasing.

The fall of 0.5% between February and July, which is from 21.7% to 21.2% came from a representative sample of 2011 adults aged 18+ in the UK.

The findings are announced as Facebook are taking action to stop ad blockers from working on the social network, which works by making the ad blocker unable to tell which is advertising content or isn't. Facebook also isn't the first website to trial anti-ad blocking software and it probably won't be the last. Another study found that ad blockers are actually breaking the internet, for example the research by Oriel (a technology company) reported problems with the British Airways website and with Vodafone's site too. It seems that ad blockers are breaking more than just ads.

Some key findings from the YouGov and IAB research include:

• Ad blocking software is used more by women than men
• Amongst those who have downloaded on ad blocker, 2 in 10 (22%) were found to be no longer using it
• The largest reason for no longer using ad blockers was lack of trust in the ad blocking software

• Data: YouGov
• Source: ResearchLive