Google Chrome Will Automatically Block Intrusive Ads From 2018

From early 2018, Google Chrome will automatically block ads that hamper the user experience on mobile and desktop.

The move comes after Google joined the Coalition for Better Ads, an industry group looking to improve online advertising.

This group recently published the Better Ads Standards, a set of guidelines for advertising on desktop and mobile web.

The report identifies the kinds of advertising that harms the user experience, or “falls beneath a threshold of consumer acceptability”, and generates a set of guidelines for what online advertising is acceptable.

Examples of those deemed unacceptable on desktop includes pop-up ads, auto-playing video ads with sound, prestitial ads with countdown and large sticky ads.

On mobile, the list includes pop-up ads, ad density higher than 30%, flashing animated ads, full-screen scroll over ads and postitial ads with countdown.

And in a post on its AdWords blog, Google has now announced it will stop showing ads on Chrome that are not compliant with these Better Ads Standards from early 2018.

Google said: “We believe these changes will ensure all content creators, big and small, can continue to have a sustainable way to fund their work with online advertising.

“We look forward to working with the Coalition as they develop marketplace guidelines for supporting the Better Ads Standards, and are committed to working closely with the entire industry—including groups like the IAB, IAB Europe, the DCN, the WFA, the ANA and the 4A’s, advertisers, agencies and publishers—to roll out these changes in a way that makes sense for users and the broader ads ecosystem.”

Check out the full Better Ads Standards guide here.