digital marketing · 2019-01-19

Chrome to block ads (bad ones) from later this year irrespective of location – Marketing

Chrome to block ads

Simon / Pixabay

Google has embarked on a directive to block annoying adverts by introducing a tool for its Chrome browser. From July 9, Chrome will block such “bad” ads across all Websites, irrespective of where they are located around the globe.

This initiative is aimed at creating a smoother & less invasive experience for Internet users, as well as targeting the problem Google has from 3rd party in-browser advertising blockers, which users are adopting at a rate of knots.

The Coalition for Better Ads has laid down standards aimed at removing adverts from Web pages that consumers might find irritating, such as auto-play videos which blast high volume sound at the user, or ads which have timers that delay Content from loading. Following these complaints, Google decided Chrome to block ads in the United States & Europe, with a plan to incorporate all Websites worldwide from July 9 this year.

Interestingly, Google is massively invested in ensuring that ads do run on Web pages, since its major revenue is earned from this source. Also, thousands of free-content Websites such as News Sites, free stock image Sites, blogs, recipe Sites, & many others rely exclusively on advertising revenue to stay afloat. E-commerce Sites, which are responsible for providing this income through their adverts, must be appeased, too. So the decision of Chrome to block ads requires a balance of offering a pleasant user experience, while still maintaining the delicate economic ecosystem between enterprise spend, income recipients, as well as consumers, is going to be rather difficult to juggle effectively, feel marketing experts.

Google has approached Websites & alerted them to the changes. Going ahead, if Websites are found to be in violation of these standards they will be issued with ‘notification to adjust’, while the offending adverts are immediately removed. Should the Sites fail to comply, all adverts will be removed from the Site.

For desktop surfers, a notification appears in the Chrome browser bar informing the user that certain ads are blocked on-site. The user may choose to continue as is, or click an ‘allow blocked content link’, which will subsequently render all ads. While mobile users, on the other hand, will receive the same type of notification, but the icon appears at the bottom of the user’s screen.

What should you do if you are a Website owner outside North America?

If you are a Site owner outside North America & Europe, Google recommends you run the Ad Experience Tool.

In Conclusion

Advert avoidance & applications which afford this choice are influencing ad distribution & income return for thousands of businesses who rely on the Internet to promote their products. Google’s Chrome ad blocking tool, & in fact the similar tool launched by Apple’s Safari  are both, mostly aimed at limiting the impact of highly aggressive ad blockers which often remove all ads, good or bad. The thinking probably is that if the advertising providers monitor themselves, there will be less demand for total advert annihilation, we’ll just have to wait & see what transpires.


 

Click here to opt-out of Google Analytics