Are Ads More Frustrating For Consumers Than Privacy Risks?

Data privacy is a significant concern for consumers but there is another issue that tops the list of frustrating experiences – disruptive ads. Customers are disrupted by ads to the extent that they are more concerned with them than data privacy risks. In fact, as per research by eyeo, mobile browser users report experiencing even higher frustration with online mobile ads at 79%, versus 69% for lack of security and 68% for lack of privacy.

“Ad-tastrophe”: Consumer & Industry Perspectives is a whitepaper by ad-filtering technology provider eyeo and The Harris Poll, which takes on the question of whether or not the industry has lived up to its promises to improve digital ads and the web experience since ad blocking first rose a decade ago. 

Results from the whitepaper’s survey of 2005 US consumers show that the ecosystem’s initiatives have not done nearly enough to solve the problem. And the issues have compounded as users are living digital lives well beyond the browser.

The paper reveals how, across different media, customers report intrusive ads to be a bigger pain point than online security and privacy:

• Among connected TV (CTV) users, 69% found online ads ‘extremely, very or somewhat frustrating’, contrasting significantly with lack of security (55%) and privacy (57%).
• For desktop users, online ads were the top frustration at 73%, outranking lack of security (65%) and privacy (64%).
• Tablet users also ranked online ads as their biggest frustration, at 74%, compared to 61% for lack of security and 59% for lack of privacy.
• Mobile browser users experienced even higher frustration with online mobile ads at 79%, versus 69% for lack of security and 68% for lack of privacy.
• On mobile apps, in-app online ads were the most frustrating, according to 81% of, compared to 76% for lack of security and 74% for lack of privacy.

When asked to choose the single most frustrating online ad on the apps/devices they use, consumers selected ads in gaming apps as ‘most frustrating’ by the largest majority (25%). Ads in movie or TV streaming services such as Netflix and Hulu came close behind (21%), followed by ads in video platforms such as YouTube (15%) and ads seen within mobile browsing apps (14%).

Consumers also expressed concern over digital devices collecting personal data for targeted advertising, either by tracking web browsing (81%) or by monitoring their conversations through device listening capabilities (77%).

“About a decade ago, when ad blocking first emerged, a series of initiatives and coalitions were born. Their aim was to improve the quality of digital ads, and better the overall user-experience on the web,” said Frank Einecke, CEO of eyeo, in his introduction to the whitepaper. “Despite numerous industry efforts aimed at making ads that are better, more respectful, and more effective, the problem persists, and in many ways, worsened. Resistance to change and an overall lack of traction for some of the proposed changes have kept progress stalled.”

The overwhelming majority (89%) of respondents agreed that there should be a limit to the number of ads they are exposed to online in return for access to free content, as well as restrictions on their level of disruptiveness. The same percentage (89%) stated that they want better control over the ads they see when using the internet on their devices.