As much as we would like to never see ads on the websites we browse, we all know that’s impossible. And we have to admit, some ads are actually not that annoying and may even lead us to something we actually want or need. But Google is helping us see better ads and do away with the annoying ones by adapting the Better Ads Standards on Chrome browsers starting February 15. It is actually their first native ad blocker and was initially announced last year, but now it’s implementation time.
Basically, what will happen is that all ads on websites that have been found to fail the Better Ads Experience Program. This will be in sync with the Better Ads Standards that were established by the Coalition for Better Ads. Websites and publishers will be evaluated based on a sample of their site pages and how well they comply with the standards. If they have any of the 12 ad experiences that users have found to be disruptive, like pop-up ads, video ads that autoplay with sound, flashing animated ads, etc, then the ads on their sites will be blocked.
Google has previously released the guidelines to publishers and so they had enough time to comply. The good news is that 42% of those sites that were flagged were able to fix their websites and have now passed the evaluation. If a website will continue to be non-compliant 30 days after they have been notified, then Chrome will continue to block the ads on the website.
All of this native ad-blocking on Chrome will commence on February 15. Let us know if there is a significant change in your Chrome browsing experience, both in your desktop and mobile.
