While the market is approaching maturity, there’s still potential for growth, as ad blocking spreads beyond early-adopter cohorts to teens and seniors. Younger adults continue to lead the ad blocking charge in Germany, with 49.5% of 18- to 24-year-olds and 48.0% of internet users in Germany ages 25 to 34 using ad blockers in 2018.
Beyond finding digital ads disruptive and a waste of time, many web users in Germany dislike the idea of their personal information being gathered and shared by publishers and advertisers. A majority also think there should be better safeguards surrounding the data that individuals reveal online.
A 2018 AudienceProject study found that 49% of internet users in Germany were annoyed by ads on websites; just 9% of respondents viewed them positively. An even higher share—68%—disliked ads in online video clips.
Moreover, web users in Germany typically disapproved of digital ads for several reasons. Of those surveyed, 59% said sites were more manageable without banners, 46% of respondents disliked ads containing irrelevant or offensive material, and 28% of internet users in Germany said websites with ads took longer to load. Concern about behavioral tracking allied to advertising is widespread, too. According to AudienceProject, 45% of web users in Germany said they didn’t want their online activities to be tracked.
eMarketer’s latest report, “Ad Blocking in Germany: Sizing Up Europe’s Largest, Most Privacy-Conscious Market,” breaks out digital users in Germany who use ad blockers by demographic and device.