Three quarters of Brits will consume ads in exchange for free content, says a new report.

The study, by Seedtag Contextual and market research firm YouGov, found that the UK was easily the best market for an ad-funded model for online content. 76 per cent of British consumers are happy with the model, compared with 56 per cent for Italy, 52 per cent for France and 51 per cent for Spain.

Despite this, there is evidence that consumers are taking more care with they data and privacy. 52 per cent of UK consumers say they either adjust the scope of the storage of cookies or deny cookies outright when online.

This is in line with their counterparts in France (59 per cent ), Italy (58 percent), Spain and the Netherlands (both 54 per cent ) and Germany (49 per cent ). Consumers also adjusted their cookie settings based on the websites they were visiting.

The survey targeted 3,000 internet users across six countries - Spain, Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands and the UK. Other key findings from the survey include:

• 82 per cent of Europeans feel positive or very positive about brands ending their use of personal data for targeting
• 53 per cent reject cookies on certain websites
• 58 per cent choose hybrid or ad supported models instead of paying for a subscription, paying per article or receiving a limited number of free articles
• 64 per cent of these respondents feel  positively about brands whose ads were embedded in content that interested them

Paul Thompson, UK Country Manager, Seedtag said: “Different countries have dramatically different requirements and both brands and publishers need to understand this and tailor the approach depending on the region. This is a huge opportunity. Consumers seem to support the move to a cookieless environment, so as an industry we need to look for alternatives that don’t require the need for personal data.”