Google has joined the Coalition for Better Ads, an industry group that is dedicated to improving online adverts. This looks to put a stop to annoying and intrusive adverts on the web – like the ones that force you to wait 10 seconds before you can see the on a page or blare out music or video unexpectedly. With so many bad experiences many people use ad blockers which in turn has a direct impact on content creators, journalists, videographers and anyone that relies on adverts to fund their content creation.
So what can be done?
In support of a better web the coalition has announced a set of better ad standards that shows how adverts can be improved for consumers. Google is launching new tools for publishers to help them see how the new standards apply to their websites and also make it easier for them to fix any issues. The Ad Experience Report provides screenshots and videos of annoying ad experiences that Google have identified.
Funding Choices allows publishers to show a customised message to visitors using an ad blocker which invites them to enable ads on their site or pay for a pass to remove ads on the site through the new Google Contributor. Funding Choices is available to all publishers in the UK as well as US, Germany, Australia and New Zealand.
Chrome to support Better Ads Standards
Chrome has always tried to focus on providing a great user experience when browsing the web by preventing pop-ups in new tabs but this is going to be taken a step further starting in 2018. Chrome will stop showing ads on websites that are not compliant with the Better Ads Standards. This includes adverts that are owned or served by Google, so this is a big step.
These changes are all aimed to help to make the web a better place and help content creators to continue to fund their work through online advertising.