• by Felicia Greiff , December 9, 2015

Marketers will find no comfort in Digital Content Next’s finding that a third of consumers are “very or somewhat likely” to install ad-blocking software in the next three months.

DCN CEO Jason Kint said in an email that those numbers were higher than expected, but added that we don't know how many consumers will actually follow through on installation of ad-blocking software.

“The ad blocking discussion is forcing the wider industry to finally respond to our calls to improve consumer trust in digital media,” Kint said. “In particular, the companies responsible for the technology in serving ads are finally remembering the consumer is number one.”

Here are a few highlights of DCN takeaways for members:

• The organization said members should talk to consumers and “find solutions to improving the consumer experience by testing new value-exchange models that can extend beyond advertising.”
• DCN recommended testing “simple solutions you think make sense for your audience” before trying another tech layer to solve the problem.
• Digital Content Next also suggested members join in calling for third parties to provide more transparency about customer tracking and data use.

The report included 10 qualitative consumer interviews; a quantitative study using a nationally projectable sample of 1,000 adults; and 15 qualitative interviews among industry execs. DCN’s members include The New York Times, Business Insider, The Associated Press, Vox Media and Refinery29.