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Most Users Would Reject Opportunity To Pay To Avoid Mobile Ads

Just 19 percent would pay at least $5 per month to not see ads.

Greg Sterling on July 10, 2015 at 10:53 am

Despite the fact that most consumers are wary about digital advertising, they are also unwilling to pay to avoid ads either. This finding comes from AppLovin, which surveyed 5,000 US adults and asked them if they’d be willing to pay a monthly fee to remove ads from their smartphones.

According to the published data, roughly 67 percent said they wouldn’t pay anything to remove ads.

On top of your regular phone bill how much extra would you pay per month to remove ads from your phone?

Source: AppLovin

AppLovin calculated that it would cost roughly $5 per month for mobile publishers to break even on users who declined to receive ads. Roughly 19 percent, however, said they would pay at least the $5 “break even” amount. Roughly 33 percent would pay at least $2.

Higher earners have incomes of at least $75K

Source: AppLovin

When the data are segmented by income they reflect that 37 percent of high income earners would pay at least $2 to remove ads. Of that group 11 percent would pay $5 per month for an ad-free mobile experience and 5 percent would pay at least $10.

Consumers may not entirely embrace digital advertising but they recognize it as necessary to keep content online and on mobile devices free. For example, a global mobile user study released in June by Millennial Media found that 79 percent of respondents “understood that adverts are shown to keep apps and content free and prefer this to having to pay for apps.”

Interestingly that same study asked mobile users to assign a monetary value to their time spent with mobile advertising. They responded with an average valuation of just under $11 per minute.

About The Author

Greg Sterling

Greg Sterling is a Contributing Editor at Search Engine Land. He writes a personal blog, Screenwerk, about connecting the dots between digital media and real-world consumer behavior. He is also VP of Strategy and Insights for the Local Search Association. Follow him on Twitter or find him at Google+.