Online ad preferences in the UK and US.

Influencer engagement trends in the UK and US.

Influencer ads are a common part of the online experience, but viewer engagement and purchasing habits vary between regions, generations, and topics.

Scepticism toward influencer recommendations was common, with 64% of respondents reporting doubt about their credibility. Despite this, influencers continue to drive engagement and purchases: 67% of respondents have engaged with influencer ads, and 69% have bought influencer-endorsed products.

British audiences approach influencer marketing with more caution: Only 10% reported trusting influencer endorsements, compared to 21% of people in the US. Gen Z was the generation most open to social media influencer endorsements overall, with 20% reporting trust in their product recommendations.

Preferences for influencer categories also varied by region. British people were most engaged with gaming influencers, while people in the US showed a stronger interest in lifestyle. Finance and investing influencers saw the lowest engagement in both countries, with only 21% of people overall expressing interest.

Which ads drive the most engagement?

When it comes to online ads, placement, format, and creative style help to drive engagement and purchasing. Learn what audiences in the UK and the US prefer.

In-feed ads emerged as the most favoured ad placement, with 37% of respondents preferring this. Videos dominated engagement, with 79% of respondents interacting with video ads, followed by social media stories at 40%. Live streams were popular among a quarter of respondents, with people in the US being 33% more likely than British people to engage with this content. Regardless of format, nearly one in five Brits (18%) made an immediate purchase after seeing an online ad, as did one in four people in the US.

Humourous ads proved the most engaging overall, with 58% of respondents favouring this tone. Despite showing lower engagement overall, emotional appeals affected certain groups more than others. People in the US were 66% more likely than British people to engage with an emotional ad, and women were twice as likely as men to do so. Men showed a 32% higher preference for informative or professional ads than women.

As for style, viewers most often responded to simple designs with lots of white space. Clean and simple minimalistic ads resonated equally across regions, with 50% of respondents in both countries favouring this style. The next most engaging style was vibrant and colourful ads (34%) with bold hues and energetic designs. These were followed by nature-inspired content featuring earth tones and organic shapes (30%).

Why do people use and turn off ad blockers?

Ad blockers are widely used as audiences strive for a smoother browsing experience, and understanding why they're enabled — and sometimes disabled — can help influencers and brands improve their strategies.

The primary reason for using ad blockers was to reduce pop-ups, with 76% of British people and 67% of people in the US citing this motivation. Avoiding intrusive or disruptive ads followed, mentioned by 66% of people in the US and 61% of Brits. Privacy concerns were also a factor, though slightly more common in the US (40%) than in the UK (36%).

But ad blockers are not always a permanent choice: 62% of respondents have turned them off at some point, most often to access content behind ad blocker walls (70% of Brits and 67% of people in the US).