Soon, Google Chrome’s ad blocking efforts will extend to “intrusive” video ads in short-form videos. Chrome will be adopting the latest standards for video ads from the Coalition for Better Ads. This news was announced on February 5.
Three different ad experiences for short-form video content was identified by the Coalition for Better Ads are included in the Better Ads Standards:
- Mid-roll ads of any duration.
- Pre-roll ads or ads longer than 31 seconds that cannot be skipped in the first 5 seconds.
- Text or display ads that appear in the middle third of a playing video or are larger than 20% of the video content.
Beginning August 5, 2020, ads on sites that “repeatedly show these disruptive ads” will stop being shown on Chrome, and will affect sites globally.
Regarding YouTube, the video site could be affected by the use of mid-roll ads in shorter videos. The pre-roll standard looks tailored to YouTube’s TrueView ads which allow users to skip after the first five seconds. Bumper ads, which are unskippable but only 6-seconds long, won’t be affected either. It’s possible that there could be some changes to the appearance of display banners on YouTube videoss.
“It’s important to note that YouTube.com, like other websites with video content, will be reviewed for compliance with the Standards,” the company said in its announcement Wednesday. “Similar to the previous Better Ads Standards, we’ll update our product plans across our ad platforms, including YouTube, as a result of this standard, and leverage the research as a tool to help guide product development in the future.”