In this week’s LATAM RoundUp: Ad blockers in Brazil reach 21% of internet users in urban centre; a partnership between Abril Mídia and Google Brazil use big data, analytics, and performance tools to aim for car industry marketers; and, finally, numbers of Latin American social network adoption slowing down, marking the first year with a single-digit growth.

Only 21% of Brazilians using ad blockers

Ad blocker adoption in Brazil reaches only 21% in urban centres, placing the country in 19th position in a ranking made by Reuters Institute and the University of Oxford's Journalism Centre. The study analysed 26 countries.

Given that the study did not consider data from users living outside urban centres in Brazil, where domestic internet is high, it is possible to look at a lower number when considering how many people in the country use adblockers.

The study also revealed that Brazilians are third on the list when it comes to paying to have access to news, at 22%. Some of the local publishers do not allow access to any news page when ad blockers are on, such as Folha de S. Paulo. “In one year where scandals and weak numbers of the economy took over the headlines, the trust in the news was high”, the study says. The level of trust in the news was 58%.

Talking about news, Facebook is the main source through which Brazilians get informed. The same report states that 91% of the users in the country access social media with the intention of reading journalistic content. This places Brazil in the second place in the list, behind Greece (96%).

Facebook is the most cited platform, mentioned by 72%. The frequency in which they access social media looking for journalistic content is weekly (70%), which is 20 points above the average.

The main publishers behind the content spread in social media are part of the print press.

Abril Mídia teams up with Google aiming for car industry marketers

The Brazilian publisher group Abril Mídia and Google Brazil presented earlier last week their new project, 'Launch in a Box', which aims to create another process targeting car industry marketers.

The project is based in industry data — 66% of Brazilians who will buy a vehicle start their searches three months before the purchase. Also, 65% visit specialised publishers to get information.

Launch in a Box will combine Abril’s big data capabilities and Google’s data analytics and media, video, and performance tools. “When studying the relationship between the user and the sector, we see that the consumers’ expectations have been increasing. Creating a connection since the beginning is crucial for a successful strategy”, said Monica Carvalho, business director, Google.

Social Network adoption slows in Latin America

The days of double-digit growth in social media in Latin America are over. According to eMarketer’s forecasts, by the end of 2016, 250 million people will use social networks monthly in the region, which represents a growth of 9.4%, compared to 2015’s numbers (13.2%).

In the coming years, the growth will keep slowing. The expected year growth rates are 6.8% for next year, 5% in 2018, 4.3% in 2019, and 3% in 2020.

Brazil represents the majority of the audience, with 93.2 million users in 2016. Yet, the biggest growth is seen in Mexico, with 56 million users, and 13.1% increase expected in 2016, against Brazil's 7.8% increase rate.

The penetration is higher in Argentina, where almost half of the population (49.4%) will use social media websites this year, against 45.3% in Brazil.