Google has had a filtering mechanism for disruptive ads from US and European websites in its Chrome browser for quite some time, and now the web giant has announced that the system will finally be going global, filtering ads on all sites worldwide, as of July 9, 2019. This follows on an expansion of the Coalition For Better Ads’ standards to a worldwide scale. The different types of ads that are considered disruptive and annoying to users have also been expanded, as detailed in the infographic below. To be clear, Chrome users around the world are already protected from disruptive ads originating in the United States and throughout Europe. This change will begin blocking bad ads from sites around the world.
Background: Google originally rolled out the feature in full for US and European websites back in February, causing a bit of a stir in the ad industry. Simultaneously, Google actually stopped selling ads that violated the Better Ads Coalition’s standards, making disruptive ads just a bit harder to implement. The original draft of the standard was a bit less inclusive than what’s seen here. When the change goes live, Chrome users should no longer see pop-up ads of any sort, auto-play video ads with sound, or certain types of ads on mobile that take up most of a page, to name a few. On top of that, Google is also pledging to stop showing any sort of ads on pages that repeatedly show ads that violate the standard, no matter where the sites are hosted. If you’re a webmaster for a site that shows ads, Google has an Ad Experience Report tool that can help you determine how well your site’s ads integrate into the user experience of your site, as well as help you to identify and get rid of ads that violate the standard.
Impact: Thus far, Google reports that only about 1% of sites it’s reviewed have had ads end up being filtered. About two-thirds of the sites reviewed who had infringing ads when the feature rolled out were able to come into compliance. The goal of the effort is not to have less ads on the web and less revenue for webmasters, of course; it’s to get rid of bad experiences and foster the creation of a smoother and more user-friendly internet. Mind you, these results are from the limited deployment of the feature in the United States, Canada, and Europe. Similar results can likely be expected from sites around the world, though some of the more exploitative websites hosted in out-of-the-way places on the world’s web stage may decide to simply cease operations, rather than give up violating ads. Since they’re more intrusive and harder for users to ignore, such ads tend to draw more revenue than their more contemporary cousins. In any case, Google will be forcing along the winds of change once again, so users can expect to see these sorts of advertisements disappear once the change goes live in all countries around the global web.