As the web has grown, so has the marketing sector. Advertisements, while still present in newspapers and television, have also become a permanent part of the online landscape whether we like it or not. In fact, we’ve become so used to online ads that we barely register them, even while they take up our time and attention. So, how much time do you waste on advertising, and how can you reclaim it?

Let’s estimate the time

As recently as 2007, the average person saw about 5,000 ads per day (clario.co), ranging from simple text ads to complex video ads. In 2012, research-based on eye-tracking indicated that an average internet user views ads for about 6.58% of the time they spend online (miratech.com). To think of it another way: that’s about four minutes out of every hour. Considering that the average person spends about 59 hours a week online (audacy.com), they spend up to four hours watching ads during that time – whether they want to or not.

A deluge of distraction

As the advertising landscape becomes more and more saturated, marketing budgets are increased and new styles of ads are devised – all with the aim of becoming the loudest voice among the cacophony, and capturing what little attention we have left. Ads surprise us from all sides: banner ads, sponsored posts, follow-up ads, email marketing, pop-ups, interstitial video ads – distracting colors and flashes, irritating windows that need to be closed, and even short videos that cannot be skipped.

Reshaping the virtual landscape

Have you ever fantasized about what websites would look like without all the ads and what are the pros of doing so?

Without ads:

• Websites you visit look nicer
• Websites you visit load faster
• You are using less data to load websites
• You are protected from malvertising

Just as more and more cities around the world are choosing to remove large billboards from public spaces, restoring a cityscape that does not cause lowered self-esteem, you can restore the digital landscape by using special online adblocking software. Not only will you make websites load faster and much nicer to visit, but you’ll also reduce the time you waste on ads. That means that you are saving twice as much time considering websites loading faster and not being forced to look at ads. And on top of that, you will save yourself from malvertising – ads that lead to sites with malware.

It’s easy to reclaim your time

You can take back your time, clear the virtual landscape and protect your computer at the same time by using the Adblocker in Opera Browser. And since it’s built right into the browser, you don’t have to install any external add-ons. Just flip the switch and enjoy an ad-free internet. Opera’s Adblocker will reduce the visibility of ads on websites and the data consumption needed to load more ads. Fewer ads mean a faster and better online experience and saving more than four hours a week. That’s 16 hours more per month, and up to 192 hours more per year. And that’s not all – your websites load faster, so you gain extra time. Given that websites load up to 51% faster than those without ad blockers, you can save about 2 seconds per page visited. Having in mind that we visit thousands of websites every day, that time saving can grow from additional seconds into minutes and even hours ‌you can spend on whatever you want.

What will you spend your saved time on?

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