That 40 percent is definitely not true in the general audience. Also they will load ads, just not all of them. Surveys ask that. Especially on mobile, and apps. Also, when we measured on our car rental site, with near perfect precision (it's absolutely not difficult), then the number was around 20%. Also, according to download statistics, there are less than half a billion people who use ad blocking browsers or other solutions on Android. And that's downloads, which is obviously inflated, even obvious from browser statistics (no not 100% of Firefox users are on Android, it's almost the opposite).

It's not nothing, but it's probably around 20%.

Also as others stated. I pay for everything, if they give me the opportunity to pay them for ad free versions. I don't see ads on my Android, and I don't use a general ad blocker on it (except my browser, but I rarely visit sites which would contain ads, and basically all of them from Hacker News). I don't use free search, email, newspapers, I pay for YouTube, and I would pay for Facebook if I would use it. I don't even use Hacker News freely, because I paid for the app which I use to not see ads, and have more features. Heck, I pay even for my torrent, because I support them.

You're in the wrong neighborhood with this sentiment. But yes, the general populace is not like this.