Google continues the quest for a better web
Google is leading the way to a cleaner web with every algorithm change but now they’re fixing up their software also. You wouldn’t expect Google which makes a huge amount of revenue through its display network on the Google network on advertising to start blocking adverts. Which is why they’re not completely getting rid of advertising – just the obnoxious ones.
If you’re a publisher or a curious web user, here is what you need to know
Google Chrome will block adverts that
- The advert is larger than 30% of the screen density
- Cover your screen and show a countdown timer
- Autoplaying videos
- ‘Sticky panels’
- Screen covering popups – partial or full
Essentially if your adverts are resulting in a poor user experience – you can expect it to be blocked on chrome.
If you’re a publisher interested in learning more about the types of advertising which are considered most obnoxious by users – check out the Coalition for better ads
So what can I do?
Smarter content marketing has been the way forward for a while now and if you’ve been relying on flashing in your face advertising you’re likely not reaching the younger audience anyway as most of those have Adblock on. Though nevermind the Adblock, we’ve been exposed to so much advertising in recent years that we’ve become conditioned to ignore it, building genuine relationships with your customers is much better – email newsletters, easy to use websites & live chat are all much better than popups or forced full-screen sales funnels.
What else has changed recently?
Google also announced recently they’ve stopped supporting meta news keywords for consideration for Google News.