Screen & Digital Behaviour
How many ads are blocked every day worldwide?
912 million devices reject advertising every day, the largest consumer revolt in digital history
Roughly 844K ads every second.
Source: eyeo Global Ad Blocking Report 2024; PageFair/Blockthrough. View on dashboard →
Why nearly half the internet blocks ads
Ad blocking is software that prevents ads from loading on web pages and in apps. It took off around 2009 with browser extensions. By 2024, about 912 million devices use some form of ad blocking, 42% of all internet users. At roughly 80 ads blocked per user per day, that's about 843,000 ads blocked every second globally. The largest consumer rejection of a business model in digital history.
What this means for you
If you browse the internet without an ad blocker, you are exposed to an estimated 4,000-10,000 advertising messages per day. Most arrive embedded in pages you visit, videos you watch, and apps you use. Fewer than 100 of those exposures are consciously noticed.
Installing an ad blocker removes almost all of that. About 912 million devices globally have one installed, which is why the counter above moves as fast as it does. The global opt-out is not a niche behaviour any more: it is the default choice for roughly 42% of internet users worldwide, and more than 50% of desktop users in many European countries.
Beyond comfort, there are practical reasons: ad networks are among the most common vectors for malware delivery ("malvertising"). Independent security researchers estimate that ad blockers also reduce page load times by 15-50%, and reduce tracking-based data collection significantly.
Ad blocking: why a billion users opted out of the attention economy
The consumer rejection of advertising
Ad blocking represents perhaps the most dramatic voluntary mass rejection of a business model in internet history. From near-zero in 2008, adoption grew to 615 million devices by 2017 and 912 million by 2024. The primary driver is user experience: online advertising had become so intrusive, slow-loading, tracking-heavy, and privacy-invasive that a large minority of users chose to block it entirely rather than tolerate it. The growth of mobile ad blocking since 2022 (up 30% annually) suggests the trend is far from peaked.
Impact on the web economy
Ad blocking creates a fundamental tension in the "free web": the model where content is funded by advertising is eroded when 40%+ of users bypass those ads. PageFair/Blockthrough estimates the industry cost at $12-15 billion annually. Publishers have responded with ad-block walls (demanding users disable ad blockers to access content), more intrusive pop-ups, native advertising, and subscription models. The ad industry responded by creating "acceptable ads" standards (less intrusive ads whitelisted by Adblock Plus), itself a controversial compromise.
When the ad-blocking movement reached a tipping point
- 2009Adblock Plus browser extension launches; first major mass-market ad blocking tool
- 2013PageFair publishes first systematic ad blocking reports; usage growing rapidly
- 2015Apple enables ad blocking in Safari on iOS 9, mobile ad blocking goes mainstream
- 2017615 million devices use ad blockers; 11% of global internet users
- 202237% of 16-64 year-olds globally use ad blockers; mobile blocking accelerating
- 2024912 million devices; 42% of internet users block ads; mobile now exceeds desktop in count
The numbers: a billion users have opted out of the ad economy
42% of global internet users use some form of ad blocking as of 2024, approximately 912 million devices
Blockthrough / eyeo37% of internet users aged 16-64 regularly or occasionally use ad blockers (2022)
Blockthrough / eyeoIn 2017, 615 million devices used ad blockers; by 2024 this had grown to 912 million (+48%)
Blockthrough / eyeoMobile ad blocking grew 30% year-over-year since 2022, now exceeding desktop in number of devices
Blockthrough / eyeoAd blocking cost publishers an estimated $12-15 billion in revenue in 2022
Blockthrough / eyeoAd blocking growth: from a niche plugin to a billion-device movement
Ad blocking adoption grew from a niche technical practice to a mass-market behaviour, with 42% of internet users now blocking ads. It represents the largest consumer rejection of a business model in digital history.
| Year | Rate | Ads blocked/day | Context |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | 565K/sec | 48.8B | Desktop-dominant; mobile beginning |
| 2020 | 757K/sec | 65.4B | Mobile blocking surges |
| 2024 | 844K/sec | 72.9B | 30% mobile growth YoY |
| 2027 (forecast) | 1.0M/sec | 88.0B | Mobile DNS-based blocking growth; more built-in browser blockers |
Ads blocked vs. ads seen, today
The digital advertising ecosystem is split: for every ad that lands, billions more are intercepted. This contest between ad delivery and ad blocking defines modern digital media economics.
What the research shows
| Year | Finding | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | 615 million devices using ad blockers globally; 236 million desktop users; 380 million mobile; 11% of global internet users | 615.0M devices with ad blocking | Blockthrough / eyeo |
| 2019 | 763.5 million global ad-blocking users across all platforms | 763.5M devices with ad blocking | Blockthrough / eyeo |
| 2020 | 820 million total ad-blocking devices; 290M desktop, 530M mobile | 820.0M devices with ad blocking | Blockthrough / eyeo |
| 2022 | 37% of internet users 16-64 use ad blockers; 290M monthly active desktop ad blocker users | 37 % internet users using ad blockers | Blockthrough / eyeo |
| 2024 | 42% of internet users worldwide use some form of ad blocking; 912M devices | 912.0M devices with ad blocking | Statista |
In perspective
With 843,000 ads blocked per second, ad blockers prevent the equivalent of every single person in Los Angeles seeing an ad, every 14 seconds
912 million ad-blocking devices is more than the entire population of the US, EU, and Japan combined
How the number is calculated
The 843,000 ads/sec figure is derived from eyeo's Global Ad Blocking Report 2024: 912 million devices × ~80 ads blocked/day per device ÷ 86,400 seconds. The 80 ads/day per device estimate comes from PageFair's analysis of ad load across typical browsing sessions. Mobile ad blocking has grown fastest, now accounting for ~55% of blocked impressions.
Sources: Blockthrough / PageFair - 2022 Adblock Report - Statista - Ad Blocking Topic. Methodology →
Frequently asked questions
- How many people use ad blockers?
- As of 2024, approximately 912 million devices globally have ad blocking software installed, representing 42% of all internet users (eyeo/PageFair data).
- How much ad revenue does ad blocking cost the industry?
- PageFair/Blockthrough estimates that ad blocking cost publishers approximately $12-15 billion annually in 2022. Some estimates go higher when factoring in mobile app ads. This figure has grown significantly since the $6.6 billion estimate in 2014.
- Where is ad blocking most common?
- Ad blocking is highest in Asia (40.6% of global blocking users), followed by Europe (29.6%), Americas (19.2%), and Africa (9.2%). In some European markets, over 40% of desktop users block ads. Mobile blocking is concentrated in Asia, where browsers with built-in blocking are popular.
Why trust this data
The data comes from eyeo (makers of Adblock Plus), PageFair, and GlobalWebIndex (GWI) annual reports. eyeo directly measures active installations across its product suite; PageFair and GWI conduct independent consumer surveys. These are the three industry-standard sources for ad blocking measurement cited by the IAB and major advertising trade bodies.
Explore related: Ads seen per day - Attention span data - Social media time, and the live AnythingCounter dashboard.