Ahead of the launch of its ‘ad blocking’ Chrome browser on February 15, Google states that only 1% of publishers will be affected once the internet browser officially rolls out next week.
Google’s Chrome ad blocking feature, in partnership with the Coalition for Better Ads Standards, will block intrusive ads that don’t conform to guidelines, such as auto-playing video ads and pop-ups. Websites that fail to comply with the standards will be given 30 days notice to remove any offensive ads or Google will block them entirely.
What was once initially a concern for publishers who rely on such ads as a stream of revenue doesn’t look so bad according to the tech giant’s exclusive report claiming the vast majority would be cleared from the ad-blocking feature.
As part of Google’s review to ensure publishers are aware of intrusive ads on their website and compliant with the advertising rules, the tech firm reviewed over 100,000 websites in North America and Europe in June 2017.
Out of the websites surveyed, only 0.5% were at the “warning level” of ads being at risk of blocking, while 0.9% were flagged at “failing level”.
Publisher websites such as the LA Times, Chicago Tribune and Forbes, which previously contained ads that Google’s Ad Experience report flagged as violating standards, have since fixed the issues ahead of the changes this February.
“There’s a user experience issue online,” stated Scott Spencer, director of product management for sustainable advertising at Google; “If web experiences are annoying experiences, people will not want to search the web.
“We make money on search and good user experiences,” he added.
Relief for publishers?
In addition to its research, Google has set some criteria for publishers once its Chrome browser has been updated. For instance, publishers will have a 7.5% non-compliance threshold before any ads are blocked; this will then lower to 2.5% as publishers work to comply their ads with the advertising standards.
On top of this, pop-up ads that appear every time a user visits a page will be weighed by page views while house and promotional ads according to the tech firm are cleared from the ad-blocker all together.
So for publishers who rely on ads as a source of revenue this may very well be a sign of relief as long as their ads are compliant, or are making efforts to be compliant, with the advertising standards.