One of the most formidable challenges for marketers today and the foreseeable future is ad blocking. Digital media has been creating what may be described as a resentful customer experience for users. Few of us want to be interrupted by an ad that blocks the screen when viewing desired content. There is no doubt ad blocking is changing the advertising landscape. In a recent study by video ad tech company Teads, nearly 75% of those surveyed indicated that intrusive ads were the reason they installed the blocking software.

Ad blocking provides online users the option to remove all ads shown on any web page through applications such as AdBlock and Webguard. Internet users are now able to view pages without any interruption from pre-roll video ads or pop-ups on their devices which, besides being intrusive, decrease a site’s performance. According to data from a recent study by PageFair and Adobe, there are nearly 200 million monthly active users of adblock software globally.

Because of this, advertisers and publishers are seeing their revenue drop drastically – the less “clicks”, the less income. An annual report from PageFair, found that in 2015 ad blocking software has cost publishers $22 billion in lost revenue. And ad blocking is spreading to mobile spurred on by Apple’s iOS 9 software.

What is the solution for advertisers and publishers to stop their revenue from plummeting? The answer lies in looking at the glass half full rather than half empty.

The advertising industry should see the value in ad blocking as an opportunity. The solution is not simple but it begins with considering the user first. A necessary approach is for advertisers to create advertising that is pleasing to the users and matches their interests – advertising that is relevant. Marketers should take this opportunity to earn a user’s time and attention as opposed to interrupting a user’s time with a distraction.

In order to earn a user’s time, advertisers need to continue to pursue data collecting and analysis of user data so even more targeted advertising may be delivered, and therefore relevant.

Ad blocking has challenged marketers to become more innovative, creative and engaging. This opportunity should result in quality online content, compelling storytelling and well-designed creative which will lead to more clicks and less skips.