Let’s face it. Ad blocking is here to stay, and it is costing publishers billions of dollars annually, $21.8 billion in 2015 and an estimated $41.4 billion in 2016. Publishers across the globe are trying to come up with creative ways to fight it. Here’s how some publishers across Europe, where ad blocking grew by 35% last year, are handling it:

Axel Springer: German publisher Axel Springer bans readers who use ad blockers from Bild, a top European tabloid, says Reuters. Readers are asked to turn off their ad blocker or pay a monthly fee of €2.99, or $3.40 U.S., to access content. Axel Springer has unsuccessfully tried to sue Eyeo, the German software firm who makes Adblock Plus. That isn’t the end of the fight between Eyeo and Axel Springer though. On its Adblock Plus blog, Ben Williams accuses Axel Springer of censorship. As the war wages on, Axel Springer’s subsidiary WELTN24 has taken the makers of Blockr, an iOS content blocker, to court to try to stop the development and distribution of Blockr, says TechCrunch.

Swedish publishers: IAB Sweden announced that 90%, or 20, of Sweden’s publishers are going to block ad blockers for the month of August, reports Digiday. According to the March 14 Digiday article, ad blocking is now higher than 30%, so publishers feel it is time to act. During August, readers using ad blockers will not be able to access content unless they disable their ad blockers. As an alternative, readers can make micropayments at rates set by individual publishers. According to Digiday, after the test, IAB will share the results with other countries. At the same time, IAB Sweden is also hoping to standardize ad formats to improve advertising overall.

City A.M.: London-based business newspaper City A.M. currently blocks visitors who are using an ad blocker, which could be as many as one-fourth of their readers. Last October, City A.M. implemented Rezonence’s FreeWall solution to help fight ad blocking. FreeWall, which is also a digital monetization strategy, includes an anti ad-blocking tool that helps publisher sites get white-listed.

Factory Media: Digiday reports that Factory Media, a U.K. and German publisher, is testing anti ad blockers, blocking content from readers who refuse to turn off their ad blockers. “We only have two display ads a page. We’re not spamming people nor trying to get people to the site on a nefarious basis. I firmly believe if people are coming to the site and enjoying great free content, then there has to be a value exchange, which is that they view ads,” said Nick Bradley, commercial director for Factory Media at Digiday’s Publishing Summit in Bologna.

The Guardian: To date, The Guardian has taken a polite approach to ad blocking, asking readers to turn off their ad blockers and directing them toward the media outlet’s membership page, says Digiday. So far it has not blocked content to users of ad blockers. Digiday says The Guardian is looking at taking a tougher stance.

Insider Take:

In related ad blocking news, last week IAB released a primer on ways publishers can handle ad blocking. Rather than recommending a one-size-fits-all solution, IAB recommends an approach it refers to as DEAL (Detect ad blocking, Explain the value exchange enabled by advertising, Ask for different consumer behavior, and Life or Limit access depending on the reader’s response. IAB then outlined the seven options that publishers are using to manage ad blocking.

In the U.S., ad blocking is a popular topic among publishers and the media. Well known publishers like Forbes, GQ and Wired are banning ad blockers from their sites, either asking for readers to whitelist them or asking for monthly subscriptions (Wired) or micropayments (GQ) in exchange for free content. With the news that The New York Times is experimenting with ways to combat ad blocking, we expect more publishers to hop on board.

While publishers are addressing their loss of revenue issues, they still aren’t addressing the core issues of why readers use ad blockers in the first place – sites tracking their personal data and intrusive, annoying ads. These issues need to be a part of the ad blocking solution or the two sides (reader vs. publishers and advertisers) will never find an amicable solution.

~ Dana E. Neuts, Subscription Insider