Almost a year back, Google’s Chrome web browser started rolling out the ability to block, or filter, ads on publisher websites in North America and Europe that don’t meet the Better Ads Standards. Soon, this capability will apply globally.
The Better Ads Standards had been developed by an industry group, the Coalition for Better Ads (CBA). Google was a founding member of this group. With this announcement, Google said Chrome’s ad filtering will apply globally, too. Beginning July 9, Chrome will filter ads from sites around the world that repeatedly display any of the 12 ad experiences identified as “annoying” under the Better Ads Standards. That includes formats such as pop-ups, prestitials and auto-play video ads among others.
Check out Marketing Land’s in-depth FAQ for details on how Chrome ad filtering works, who is affected and what it means for advertisers and publishers.
If a publisher has their sites verified on Google Search Console, they can find desktop and mobile violation notifications in the Ad Experience Report.The report displays the ads region to which a publisher’s site has been assigned: United States and Canada, Europe or Rest of World.
The reports aren’t really too descriptive, and some publishers may have to do some digging and troubleshooting to identify the root issue. Failing assessments are based on the percentage of total page views that contain flagged experiences.
There are some people who are saying that Google, the dominant ad seller, is now an arbier of the types of ads publishers can show on their sites. Google’s response is that ads running through its own platforms may also be filtered and that the initiative is aimed at curtailing the adoption of ad blockers. Google’s former head of ads and commerce, Sridhar Ramaswamy, said ahead of the initial roll out of Chrome filtering, “Our hope is once this is in place, there’s no need for ad blocking on mobile.”
Google said Wednesday that as of January 1, two-thirds of publishers who were non-compliant at one time are now in good standing with the Better Ads Standards and that fewer than one percent of sites have had ads filtered.
Even Microsoft is a member of the Coalition for Better Ads. Even then, the company hasn’t made moves to filter ads on its Edge or Internet Explorer browsers.
Apple has taken a different approach with Safari, instead aiming to curtail tracking — which likely motivates users to install ad blockers in the same way that annoying ad experiences do — with Intelligent Tracking Prevention.