Your pop-up ad isn’t even being seen by 21% of Canadians, according to a recent Strategy/Decima poll, which asked 2,000 consumers from across the country whether they use ad-blocking software.

One in five reported that they do indeed and, furthermore, 58% of respondents with access to the Internet said they would use ad-blocking software if it was available and they knew how to install it.

Ad-blocking software works by recognizing common characteristics of ads, such as their shape or source of images, and is therefore able to ban them. Depending on the abilities of the individual program, this could affect banners, pop-ups, Flash ads, cookies (which are able to collect information about the user) and mousetrapping efforts.

Peggy Richardson-McKee, senior VP at Toronto-based Decima Research, was surprised that a significant percentage of the population had already implemented ad-blocking software because the survey polled consumers at home and ‘not just business people.’

Adds Christine Escobar, associate marketing manager: ‘Marketers need to figure out how to reach online consumers effectively in a non-intrusive manner. Most people spend a lot of time on the Internet, so marketers can’t simply forget about Web advertising altogether.’

What is perhaps most notable is the fact that most Canadians who use or would use ad-blocking software in the future come from coveted demographics such as youth, boomers and high-income groups.

For instance, Canadians in the 18-to-24 demographic are most likely to have already engaged ad-blocking software (27%), with those in the 45-to-54 age group coming in second at 26%.

Moreover, the higher the household income, the higher the number of consumers who have implemented an ad-blocking program, particularly among those who bring in over $100,000 (32%). Consumers in this group who are already online would also be more eager to try ad-blocking software if they knew how to install it (70%), while those with household incomes below $40,000 are least likely to try it (52%).

So far, B.C. (32%) and Alberta (24%) have the greatest number of citizens who have invested in ad-blocking software. Not surprisingly, more males (23%) than females (18%) have already employed the software and they are more likely to do so as programs become accessible to them (56% males versus 34% females).

Simon Jennings, director of sales for Yahoo! Canada and chairman of the Internet Advertising Bureau of Canada, says the results would probably be similar for any other medium; however that doesn’t mean that marketers should ignore the issue. His advice: ‘Be aware that consumers don’t want to be inundated by useless, intrusive, loud, obnoxious advertising.’

Of course, not all Internet advertising falls into this category; he points out that a relevant offer from a bank on the financial section of a Web site would be a smart way to approach consumers.

‘I think it spells an opportunity to the intelligent, creative marketer who wants to engage the consumer when it’s appropriate and not just blast them with a shotgun approach, hoping that the spray-and-pray methodology will turn into dollars one day.’

The culprits, he says, are the intrusive ads – and pop-ups in general. Despite an ongoing debate on the effectiveness of the pop-up format, he says the industry as a whole is beginning to realize that ‘they aren’t fabulous.’

Toronto-based AOL Canada, for one, has already employed tools to regulate the number of pop-ups so that users only encounter a maximum of two per session. Members also have the ability to turn them off altogether.

‘There is no advantage in serving a pop-up that’s turned down instantly and creates annoyance,’ says Craig Wallace, president and CEO of the firm. ‘Our research indicates people want to be served up information, but it has to be relevant, reasonable and on their terms.’

Decima conducted the poll on behalf of Strategy via its monthly telephone omnibus, for which data was collected from 2,000 consumers between Aug. 14 and Aug. 28. Each month a random sample is generated and quotas for each region are disproportionately allocated. The data is weighted in tabulation to replicate actual population distribution by age and sex within regions, according to census data.

For more information, contact Decima Research at (416) 962-2013.