Does Your Audience Use Ad Blockers?

That’s why it’s so important that you determine who uses ad blockers on your site. You might not be able to stop them, but you can at least see them so you can get an accurate idea of how well your campaigns are performing. And if there are enough of them, you can adjust your advertising strategy accordingly.

If you’re interested in learning how WebFX can help you reach more of your audience with digital marketing, call 888-601-5359 to speak with a strategist, or keep reading to learn how to tell if your audience is using ad blockers.

How to learn who uses ad blockers

These are the steps to seeing how many people on your site use ad blockers.

1. Create a JavaScript (.js) file with the content below

>document.write(‘<div id=”adsense” style=”visibility: hidden;”>This is where an ad would go</div>’);

2. Upload the .js file to your server (it doesn’t matter where)
3. Include this code in the footer of every page on your site

<!—Ad Blocker Checker–>

<script src=”/ads.js” type=”text/javascript”></script><script type=”text/javascript”>// <![CDATA[

<jQuery(document).ready(checkAds()); function checkAds(){if (document.getElementById(‘adsense’)!=undefined){(){if (document.getElementById(‘adsense’)!=undefined){document.write(“<script>(){if (document.getElementById(‘adsense’)!=undefined){document.write(“<script>_gaq.push([‘_trackEvent’, ‘Adblock’, ‘Unblocked’, ‘false’,,true]);</sc” + “ript>”);}else{document.write(“<script>_gaq.push([‘_trackEvent’, ‘Adblock’, ‘Blocked’, ‘true’,,true]);</sc” + “ript>”);}}

// ]]></script>

<!–End Ad Blocker Checker–>

How to see the results

This code is intended to work with Google Analytics. You’ll set up an Event that will trigger and show as “true” whenever someone comes to your site with an ad blocker installed.

Let your site run for a few hours or days (depending on your traffic). After that set amount of time, go into your Google Analytics dashboard.

From there, navigate to Content > Events > Overview. There, you’ll see an event titled “Adblock.” Click on it, and then click on “Event Label” at the top of the table.

This view will show you who’s using ad blockers and who isn’t.

People who are using ad blockers will show up as true.

People who are not using ad blockers will show up as false.

If you don’t see any results marked “true,” then none of your users use ad blockers.

Then, you’ll need to do the math of how many people came to your site vs. how many people use ad blockers.

Over the coming months, you should continue collecting data on who uses ad blockers so you can get an accurate percentage of your audience. Then, you can remember that percentage whenever you’re looking at ad stats.

If you’d like to see the original instructions for this code, you can find them on BuySellAds.com.

Why ad blockers matter to your business

If you use ads to earn revenue in any way, you need to know if your audience is blocking ads. Blocked ads still count toward impressions and views in every major advertising network except the Google Display network.

In other words, you’re affected whether you pay to show ads or if you’re paid to host them.

The real winner in this scenario is the ad provider since they can charge per impressions, but the impressions are skewed. So the people taking out the ad aren’t getting the traffic they want, and the people showing the ad aren’t getting the money they want.

Still, it’s important to remember that ad blockers aren’t the end of the advertising world. They represent a small group of people seeking to improve their experience on the Internet by getting rid of ads that they feel are intrusive.

The bright side is that they get an ad-free experience on the Internet.

The dark side is that it hurts advertisers and ad displayers.

So in the event that your audience does use ad blockers, you should know. It’ll let you get more accurate numbers on your ads so you can accurately gauge your impact and revenue.

Other ad blocker considerations

After you have this code on your website, it’s important to keep in mind that this code won’t show you any blocked ads that you may take out on social media.

Ad blockers are surprisingly sophisticated, and they can block everything from a YouTube commercial to a Facebook promoted post.

So if you have this code installed on your website and you regularly take out ads on social media sites, you’re still losing money.

Worse yet, there’s not a way to check those sites for who’s using ad blockers. You just have to go by what the ad outlet tells you in terms of overall impressions.

WebFX is a full-service Internet marketing agency

At WebFX, we understand ad blockers and the threat they pose to Internet advertising.

That’s why we have a full team of PPC experts and social media marketers who can make sure people see your ads. We’ve worked with hundreds of clients in the past to help build their brand through paid advertising, and we’ve achieved exceptional success. If you want to tap into the skill and expertise of our experts, we’re here to help!

Contact us today to create an online advertising plan that works for you!