On February 15, Chrome will cease showing ads on websites that display non-compliant ad experiences. The very first warning came out back in June, although there wasn’t a specified time given, aside from “early 2018.”
Because there is over half the market share put into the browser market, this has a potentially sizable impact for non-complaint websites whose ads don’t meet the standards of the Coalition for Better Ads. Some of the types of ads that are on the list of banned ad types includes full-page interstitials, automatic sounds and flashing ads.
Site owners have access to a review of their site’s ad experiences in the Ad Experience Report, which shows ads that qualify as annoying or misleading. Ads can be marked as “Warning” or Failing.” Those ads that have the “failing” assessment won’t be made based on one ad experience, but rather it will be based on the percentage of total page views that contain these experiences. The Coalition outlines these as:
- 7.5 percent in the first two months of the program.
- 5 percent in the four months following.
- 2.5 percent thereafter.
If there are any remaining unfixed and persistent violations, Chrome will block all ads on the site that are in question. Once everything is fixed, site owners are able to submit their sites for review in the Ads Experience Report. Another Google offering includes content and guidance that is meant to help site owners proactively avoid any issues. The company stated before that it will show no favoritism towards sites that run Google Ads.
With Chrome jumping into the realm of ad experiences policing, it is offering an alternative to the third-party ad-blocking tools that exist already. By proactively blocking the ads ad working with site owners to improve the experience for users, Chrome keeps ad impressions available and the ad dollar ecosystem moving in the right direction. With the growth of ad blockers, users had the ability to police it themselves in the past. With Chrome’s involvement, it looks to try making the system work for both users and advertisers at the same time.