MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA: From today Google’s Chrome browser will block ads that fail to meet the standards set by the Coalition for Better Ads, a move welcomed by the World Federation of Advertisers.
Google announced in June last year it would be supporting the Better Ads Standards, which emerged out of research involving more than 25,000 consumers in Europe and North America.
This highlighted their particular aversion to formats such as full-page ad interstitials, ads that unexpectedly play sound, and flashing ads.
“It’s clear that annoying ads degrade what we all love about the web,” said Rahul Roy-Chowdhury, Vice President, Chrome, in a blog post.
“That’s why starting on February 15, Chrome will stop showing all ads on sites that repeatedly display these most disruptive ads after they’ve been flagged.”
He added that this policy would apply even if sites contained Google ads. “To us, your experience on the web is a higher priority than the money that these annoying ads may generate.”
Even if it does take a short-term hit, Google will figure that by improving the overall quality of online advertising it will reduce the number of people installing ad blockers that cut out most online ads.
But Campaign cited a January analysis by Adblock Plus which suggested that Google Chrome would block just 16% of the formats identified as bad ads by the CBA, compared to the 93% that Adblock Plus would block using its own Acceptable Ads standard.
Stephan Loerke, CEO of the World Federation of Advertisers which was a co-founder of the Coalition for Better Ads, welcomed Google’s move as he noted how consumers have become increasingly distrustful of the way digital advertising operates.
“From disruptive ad formats to concerns around data transparency, an increasing number of people have expressed frustration with the online ad experience,” he said.
“Delivering a better user experience is an essential part of rebuilding the trust in online advertising,” he stated.
“If we fail to do this as an industry, ad-blocking will rise and everyone will lose: consumers will have access to less content, advertisers will find it harder to get their messages across and publishers will find it more difficult to attract revenue to fund content creation.”
Loerke called on other industry partners to embrace the standards as “a first significant step in what will be a long-term effort”.
Google announced in June last year it would be supporting the Better Ads Standards, which emerged out of research involving more than 25,000 consumers in Europe and North America.
This highlighted their particular aversion to formats such as full-page ad interstitials, ads that unexpectedly play sound, and flashing ads.
“It’s clear that annoying ads degrade what we all love about the web,” said Rahul Roy-Chowdhury, Vice President, Chrome, in a blog post.
“That’s why starting on February 15, Chrome will stop showing all ads on sites that repeatedly display these most disruptive ads after they’ve been flagged.”
He added that this policy would apply even if sites contained Google ads. “To us, your experience on the web is a higher priority than the money that these annoying ads may generate.”
Even if it does take a short-term hit, Google will figure that by improving the overall quality of online advertising it will reduce the number of people installing ad blockers that cut out most online ads.
But Campaign cited a January analysis by Adblock Plus which suggested that Google Chrome would block just 16% of the formats identified as bad ads by the CBA, compared to the 93% that Adblock Plus would block using its own Acceptable Ads standard.
Stephan Loerke, CEO of the World Federation of Advertisers which was a co-founder of the Coalition for Better Ads, welcomed Google’s move as he noted how consumers have become increasingly distrustful of the way digital advertising operates.
“From disruptive ad formats to concerns around data transparency, an increasing number of people have expressed frustration with the online ad experience,” he said.
“Delivering a better user experience is an essential part of rebuilding the trust in online advertising,” he stated.
“If we fail to do this as an industry, ad-blocking will rise and everyone will lose: consumers will have access to less content, advertisers will find it harder to get their messages across and publishers will find it more difficult to attract revenue to fund content creation.”
Loerke called on other industry partners to embrace the standards as “a first significant step in what will be a long-term effort”.
Sourced from Google, Campaign; additional content by WARC staff
