If you are using Google AdSense,Taboola,Outbrain or any contextual ad network and you aren’t aware of the effects of Ad blocker, you should keenly listen to me-what I am about to say is painful but it’s the truth of the matter.
Recently, I was shocked more than 50 % of readers from Opera Mini have blocked ads on my website, which also means they had blocked ads for other websites. What made me more worried is the fact that the number of people who were blocking the ads was increasing spontaneously…I was worried.
With the facts sinking deep into my heart, I realized changing the way I was earning money online could save me from future shocks.
I have tried to understand why many people are determined to block ads and the answers I got from the readers were shocking. One of the readers said: “Ads slow down loading speed, they make reading hard and are most times a nuisance”. Another reader said:” I hate ads, especially those that pop up all the time even when I am in the middle of a story, this is why I decided to use ad blocker.
While it looks comfortable from the side of a reader, it’s extremely uncomfortable to the content creator. What the readers are forgetting is that for those websites to continue providing content, they must have adverts. If more readers join the rest in blocking adverts, eventually a number of blogs that depend on AdSense and contextual adverts will cease to exist.
In countries where readers are more informed about ad blocker, majority of bloggers have bowed out of the race .This is after their income drop to shocking levels. Bloggers who have realized the effect of ad blocker have come up with innovative ways of monetizing their content.
If you are a blogger, you better start looking for other innovative ways of making money, but before you take this step check how many of your readers are using ad blocker; if you find 40 % are using the tool, that means you are losing 40 % of your revenue.
Let me give you a hint, you can start by trying affiliate programs, where you will use links rather than banner ads. By using links, you are able to bypass the ad blocker and maximize revenue.
Before I conclude, let me say this: If you aren’t innovative enough, you will start feeling what I have said above.
