Ads acceptable if Internet is for free

According to a new study by Zogby Analytics people are largely fine with ads if it means the Internet is free.

The study said, nearly 85% of respondents preferred an ad-supported internet, instead of paying for online content. It was a pleasant surprise to see that consumers are overwhelmingly in favor of a free, ad-supported internet.

The subject for the study were among 1,004 US adults, and the questions asked to them were centered around internet ads, as well as how much they would be willing to pay if certain services started charging subscriptions fees.

Three-quarters of respondents said that they would reduce their online activities if they had to pay at least several hundred dollars a year for access to content and services. People suggested that they would be more willing to spend $6.37 per month to receive unlimited news content, and $6.27 a month to keep their social media accounts active. Publishers should definitely rejoice at this finding as it is rather encouraging for them.

Most valued content included video, music streaming, and sports. According to the report, social platforms rely majorly for their revenue on native ads and will continue to dominate overall native ad spending through 2021. The dominance of social platforms mobile devices will help social's contribution to overall native ad revenue through 2021.

The fastest-growing native format, over the next five years, will be Sponsored content. However, sponsored content has been categorized separately from native-display due to the direct relationship between publishers and brands in creating the format.