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June 8, 2017

Google Strikes Against Annoying Ads

Google is launching ad blocking technology in Chrome… and why this is a good thing for all of us!

According to Mary Meeker’s 2017 Internet Trends report, the marketing industry doesn’t want ad blocking increasing on mobile devices from the current adoption rate of 1%, which is considerably lower than the current rate of 18% for desktop computers. The good news is that there is an improvement plan being implemented.

If you haven’t already heard, it was recently confirmed by Google that there is a project underway that will implement a preinstalled technology on Google’s Chrome Browser. It was designed to block the majority of the types of ads that irk people the most. The project has been appropriately named The Ad Experience Report. The basic object of the project is to score a publisher’s site and inform them which of their ads are considered “annoying experiences.”

“These frustrating experiences canlead some people to block all ads …”

This will assist publishers to better comprehend how they will be affected.

“It’s far too common that people encounter annoying, intrusive ads on the web … like the kind that blare music unexpectedly, or force you to wait 10 seconds before you can see the content on the page.” wrote Sridhar Ramaswamy, Google’s senior VP of Ads & Commerce.

Ramaswamy went on to say, “These frustrating experiences can lead some people to block all ads — taking a big toll on the content creators, journalists, web developers and videographers who depend on ads to fund their content creation.”

Google prefers not to call this soon-to-be-installed technology an “Ad Blocker,” rather a “special filter” that removes the most hated types of ads. These include pop-ups, automatic-playing audio and video advertisements, and annoying ads that currently exist online, and seem to continually proliferate; lessening the browsing experience for so many.

“We’re on board with the decision, and we’re gladthat Google is jumping in to get things cleaned up.”

Genius Monkey CRO, Jeremy Hudgens stated, “This is extremely welcome news to Genius Monkey, as we’ve been discussing this topic for many years. We’re on board with the decision, and we’re glad that Google is jumping in to get things cleaned up.” Ethington added, “This is especially true in light of the fact that we are a supportive member of the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB); who has been a major player in the Coalition for Better Ads.”

As a supporter of this coalition, Genius Monkey is in good company along with Google, Yahoo, Procter & Gamble, Unilever, WPP’s GroupM, Facebook, Thomson Reuters, The Washington Post, the Association of National Advertisers (ANA) and the IAB, just to name a few.

As an additional way to help web publishers (who could be missing ad views because of ad blocking aimed at intrusive ads) is through a beta feature known as the Funding Choices program. This allows publishers to display a customized message to those who browse their site with their ad blocker turned on. It can ask users to white-list their particular site, or pay for an ad-free pass via Google Contributor. North America, the United Kingdom, Germany, Australia and New Zealand are currently enjoying Funding Choices, and it will be implemented in more countries this year.

“This gives publishers about a half-year to clean up their act and sort out the ads served on their sites.”

Google Chrome is slated to stop showing any ads (including those served or owned by Google) that are non-compliant with the Better Ads Standards by early 2018. This gives publishers about a half-year to clean up their act and sort out the ads served on their sites.

Google, along with Genius Monkey, believes that this new change will impact the entire advertising ecosystem, what with Chrome being the most popular web browser for both mobile devices and desktop. It’s sure to help ensure that all content creators will be able to sustainably fund their work with online ads.

Interested in learning more about how Genius Monkey can boost your conversion rates today?

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