Multi-​screen usage is on the rise! Now more than ever, when consumers are lounging in front of the TV, they often have a second screen in their hands to surf the web, absorbing content from both the TV and the digital device simultaneously. eMarketer research suggests that around 186 million adults in the U.S. will make this dual-​screening behavior a part of their 12 hours and five minutes of daily major media usage time this year.

While this is great news for TV and digital advertisers, this increase in media consumption is causing consumers to use more ad blockers. Approximately 30% of U.S. adults who use the internet plan to install ad blockers this year, according to eMarketer. Why? Seventy-​one percent of internet users who responded to a survey conducted by Kantar Millward Brown feel that internet ads are becoming increasingly intrusive and that they’re the result of companies using the information they collect on consumers invasively. How can digital advertisers do their part to combat this bias against digital ads?

One way is to make the ads more relevant. GlobalWebIndex surveyed more than 39,400 consumers who utilize ad blockers to discover their motivation behind their decision. 51% of respondents said they block ads because they are annoying and/​or irrelevant. So, when your digital advertising clients are planning to release their ads, encourage them to do what they can to ensure the ads are shown on web pages that attract consumers who are likely interested in their particular product or service.

Another 50% of respondents claim that there are simply too many internet ads, and 40% feel as if too much space on their screen is dedicated to digital ads. Don’t let your client be the company with so many digital ads running all at once that their brand recognition is met with disdain. If consumers see too many of your client’s ads popping up in too many places, especially if the ads take up most of the consumers’ screens, the ads will do more harm than good to the company’s reputation. Keeping your client’s digital ad presence to a minimal amount and making sure that said ads aren’t big enough to be considered intrusive will help get the client’s brand out there without driving consumers to install an ad blocker.

Not sure which forms of digital advertising would work best for your clients? AdMall from SalesFuel’s Digital Audit is a useful tool to gain insight into which companies are using what form of digital media and how effective their efforts are.