Would you pay £140 ($240) a year for an ad-free web? SOLD

An ad-free internet would cost each user at least £140 a year – a sum that the vast majority of UK web users say they would never pay, according to new research.

Video ad platform Ebuzzing calculated the average ‘value’ of each web user by dividing the amount of money spent on digital advertising in the UK in 2013 (£6.4 billion) by the number of UK web users (45 million).

In a survey of more than 1,400 UK consumers conducted by Censuswide on behalf of Ebuzzing, 98 per cent said they would not be willing to pay this amount to browse the internet without advertisements.

However, while most consumers regard ads as a necessary trade-off to keep the internet free, they will go to great lengths to avoid advertising they do not wish to see.

Of those surveyed, 63 per cent said they skip online video ads 'as quickly as possible' – a figure that rises to 75 per cent for 16-24 year olds.

Over a quarter of all respondents said they mute their sound and one in five scroll away from the video. 16 per cent use ad blocking software and 16 per cent open a new browser window or tab.

"It’s clear the ad industry has a major role to play in keeping web content free, but we have to respond to what consumers are telling us," said Jeremy Arditi, UK managing director at Ebuzzing.

"We need to get better at engaging, not better at interrupting. That means introducing new formats which consumers find less invasive, more creative ads that are better placed, and giving consumers a degree of choice and control."

When asked which factors would make them more likely to watch online video ads, 34 per cent of respondents saying the ad ‘should be relevant to me’ and one in five saying ‘being able to select the ad I watch’ was important.

Over a quarter said the ad should be ‘funny or entertaining’ and 21 per cent want short ads (less than one minute). 16 per cent said ads should be relevant to the content being consumed at the time.

The study also looked specifically at the mobile app sector and found that 77 per cent of consumers never upgrade to paid for versions of free mobile apps.

"Publishers of mobile apps will remain heavily reliant on in-app advertising to fund their content creation," said Arditi. "That means the same rules apply – they must give consumers ads that offer choice, relevance, entertainment and brevity."