Last month we reported that ad blocking is a $21.8 billion problem. That’s how much money publishers lost last year in advertising revenue because of ad blockers, according to a report by PageFair and Adobe. The problem is estimated to grow to $41.4 billion in 2016.

Publishers are having to get creative to address this growing problem. In December, DigiDay reported that Condé Nast is the latest to fight back against ad blocking. Condé Nast’s GQ magazine is asking readers to turn off their ad blockers or pay for access to online articles.

According to DigiDay, when a reader using ad blocking software visits the site, a pop-up screen appears with this message:

The micropayments are processed by CoinTent where users are asked to set up a digital wallet to facilitate payments for sites like Epicurious, Wait But Why and now GQ.

Based on the findings by PageFair and Adobe, GQ’s audience fit within those most likely to block ads – website that appeal to young, tech savvy or more male audiences are more significantly impacted by ad blocking.

While this move by GQ seems to be big news, it shouldn’t come as a surprise. In October, GQ wrote about its challenges with ad blocking in a post called “How to be GQ’s Favorite Person in the World,” which tells readers that it survives because of advertising. It even goes on to explain how readers can whitelist the GQ site on Ad Block Plus and AdBlock.

“…so we’re hoping that you like GQ.com enough to spend literally 20 seconds changing that. It’s easy,” GQ.com says. “…we get to keep providing your eyeballs with well-made Internet, and you get the satisfaction of supporting all the folks who do just that.”

Here are a few reader comments found on Twitter following GQ’s request:

Note: there were other tweets, but some weren’t fit to print. 

Insider Take:

GQ isn’t alone. Forbes, the Washington Post, City AM and Axel Springer are just a few of the publishers banning readers who use ad blockers, and we anticipate more will join the ranks as ad blocking grows in 2016. Since Condé Nast is already trying the experiment with GQ, we anticipate its other sites to follow, or at least those who are being significantly impacted.

It is too early to tell what impact this experiment will have on GQ’s readership or if readers will be willing to pay for access. Regardless of GQ’s specific experience, we think the idea of micropayments for content access will have an impact on the industry overall. If Condé Nast is willing to give micropayments and ad block banning a try, other publishers may be willing to give it a go as well.