A Farewell to Ads? : On the conflicts between online advertisements and adblockers

Abstract

The purpose of this thesis is to analyse the impact ad-blockers have on the online advertising industry. The thesis aims at (1) finding out the characteristics of ad-block users, (2) discovering the motivations behind whitelisting a website, and (3) examining people’s willingness to whitelist and pay for content on the Internet. In conclusion, the thesis identified poor advertising practices as the main contributor to the popularity of adblockers. Nevertheless, people are still willing to view ads, as thanks to them, almost all content on the Internet is accessible free of charge. While whitelisting reminders can be a good tool to gain back consumers, the most effective method is to improve the quality of ads.