Google has previously outlined its plans to kill annoying ads on web pages in its Chrome browser, and it’s turning the feature on in version 64 of the desktop and mobile app today.
Essentially, an industry group called the Coalition for Better Ads – of which Google is a member – has defined standards for what qualify as intrusive ads. The list includes full-page interstitials that appear before a page loads, flashing animated ads, and videos that autoplay with sound.
Google says it will first evaluate sites for violations of the above standards, then inform the offending sites and make reports available to them via an API, and then begin blocking ads on those pages after 30 days. It’s worth noting that if a site is in violation of the Better Ads standards, all ads on its pages will be blocked, and not just the ads that aren’t in line.
Chrome’s desktop version will notify you that it’s blocking ads similar to how it lets you know about pop-ups; on Android, you’ll see a bar appear at the bottom of the screen, with an option to allow ads if that’s how you want to roll.
While it’ll likely hurt publishers initially as they adapt to the strict standards, the move to block pushy ads seems like a good idea for users. Google says it’s received plenty of positive feedback from testers so far; let’s see how its experiment fares at scale in the real world.
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