Measuring the Effect of Ad Blockers on Google AdSense

[engine]

Ad blocking is becoming far more commonplace and it's sure affecting my earnings.
I wanted to find out how much it's affecting my earnings, excluding all the other issues that may be affecting earnings.
How have you been measuring the effect of ad blockers on your AdSense?

[EditorialGuy]

How have you been measuring the effect of ad blockers on your AdSense?

I wouldn't know how to begin, since there are so many variables that affect AdSense revenues.

Our AdSense revenues continue to be strong, so if there's been any impact on those revenues from ad-blockers, it hasn't been massive.

[engine]

That's my point, I was wondering how best to measure it.

How about putting up a message when an ad blocker is detected and measuring the times the message is detected?

[ken_b]

How about putting up a message when an ad blocker is detected and measuring the times the message is detected?

Haven't tried it, but I think I'd rather skip the message and insert an alternate local image in the ad space and see how often that was displayed.

[tangor]

I use log comparisons ... have been for a while. Turns out I'm not the only one. :)

Somebody else thought doing this earlier:
[webrepublic.com...]

[koan]

engine, if you're just looking for a piece of javascript code to measure the Adsense blocking traffic in Google Analytics, I use this (I don't remember where I found it though). Place it at the bottom of your pages for a day or two and check GA Events, you'll be able to get a rough percentage. No need to leave it on all the time.

<script>
if(typeof adsbygoogle !== "undefined") {
 window.addEventListener('load', function() {
  if(typeof ga !== "undefined") {
   if(typeof adsbygoogle.loaded === "undefined") {
    ga('send', 'event', 'AdSense', 'Ads blocked', { "nonInteraction": 1 });
   } else {
    ga('send', 'event', 'AdSense', 'Ads not blocked', { "nonInteraction": 1 });
   }
  }
 }, false);
}
</script>

[EditorialGuy]

Trouble is, detecting the use of an ad blocker isn't the same as measuring the impact of ad blockers on your earnings. After all, people who use ad blockers may be people who wouldn't have clicked on ads anyway. (Of course, not all AdSense revenue is from CPC ads, but most publishers earn at least some of their AdSense income from clicks).

[koan]

People that are technically literate enough to install an Adblocker probably aren't good clickers, for sure, as any publisher on a technology/developer topic can attest, but they're usually desktop traffic where you can display bigger ads and in greater numbers, so maybe it balances out from the CPM angle. Personally I just apply the same percentage of blocking to evaluate the impact on earnings, so a 20% blocking level would be a 20% impact on earnings.

[engine]

Thanks for the ideas.
I really don't care whether they would click or not, what I care about is the impact of not displaying the ads. If they don't see the ads, they won't be clicking, but the comparison of stats between full-fat visitors, and skimmed visitors will be more than just interesting.
I'm coming to the end of my quiet period for AdSense right now so it's hard to compare without having data in the first place. I have to compare year on year.

Thanks for the code idea, koan :)

[robzilla]

I don't remember where I found it though

Close to home :-) [webmasterworld.com...]

It was at 19.5% in November, and have since removed the code. I'll check again and report back.

[koan]

robzilla, that's it, it's been useful thanks :)

[IanCP]

Re comments 'where will it all end'? Speaking entirely for myself?

I honestly don't know any more than the next person here. AdSense has merely been the icing on the cake for me. Amazon, CJ and others have always been my "bread and butter" paying my site's costs - when they dissolve, and it starts costing me net cash money?

I'll fold my tent, and then gently fade away into the world of a "former participant in the history of the internet" my grand-children, great-grand-children "might" one day admire.

Thus far, they are completely oblivious - that's another matter - I didn't invent iPad. I didn't make 100 gazillion dollars to leave to them to sustain their hedonistic "millennial generation" lifestyle? It doesn't count.

[robzilla]

From 19.5% in November to 23% in March.

At this rate, it'll be 30% by the end of the year.

[iamlost]

Some ad blockers also block analytics javascript from loading so they become ghost visitors you may never know about except via log files or some other site interaction.

I have alternate content (PSA's for my favourite charities' latest news) for my AdSense blocks that shows unless superseded by ad delivery. My niches are broad general public interest. Ad blocking is currently ~20% up from ~8% 2-years ago, 2% 5-years ago. AdSense conversion as a percentage of traffic is still within bounds of past 5-years so that I don't see ad blocking - yet - as a concern.

Of course, AdSense being a far tertiary revenue stream also decreases ad blocker stress.