Ad Blockers Will Cost Publishers $1B in Lost Revenue Says UBS

Ad blocking on iPhones and iPads may cost digital publishers around $1 billion in lost advertising, that's according to the latest analysts report from UBS.

Ad blocking on iPhones and iPads may cost digital publishers around $1 billion in lost advertising, that's according to the latest analysts report from UBS. The number may seem like a large one but it represents only 0.5 percent of total global spend on digital advertising and 1.3 percent of mobile spend. Both UBS and JPMorgan have said that fears over advertising losses have been overblown. Here's why: Ads can only be blocked in Apple's (AAPL) Safari browser, which holds a mere 22% of global web traffic. Ads within apps cannot be blocked and the majority of users spend more time within apps than browsing the mobile web. Users need to manually download and install ad blockers, which will only work on the latest Apple products and iOS 9 software. Some sites may be harder hit than others depending on where there traffic comes from and how digitally engaged and tech savvy their readers are. UBS expects that Adobe (ADBE) and Yahoo (YHOO) will be the most exposed to ad blocking, given their heavy desktop traffic. Twitter (TWTR) and Facebook (FB) on the other hand are expected to have the least exposure, thanks to their heavy mobile and app use.