Google to Stop Showing Ads That Don’t Comply with Standards They Helped Set Up

Google, in a blog post, has announced that they will stop showing ads that they deem to be too disruptive. Beginning on February 15, 2018, Google’s Chrome web browser will stop showing all ads on websites that repeatedly display disruptive ads after they’ve been flagged. If the ads don’t comply with Better Ads Standards from the Coalition for Better Ads, then Google may deem them disruptive ads and shop showing them.

“To determine which ads not to show, we’re relying on the Better Ads Standards from the the Coalition for Better Ads, an industry group dedicated to improving the experience of the ads we see on the web. It’s important to note that some sites affected by this change may also contain Google ads. To us, your experience on the web is a higher priority than the money that these annoying ads may generate—even for us.”

This increased crackdown of unacceptable ads appears to be a response by Google to the increased installation of ad blockers. The more people install ad blockers, the less revenue Google will ultimately make, as less people are seeing ads that are going through the Google ecosystem.

Right now the filtering of ads by Google is limited to the Google Chrome web browser, and as far as I can tell, Google has no plans to roll this out to their entire ecosystem of ads.

On a related note, there have been comments about other rogue Google ads that appear on the Google AdSense network, which are rogue redirect ads that redirect the parent frame. This was brought up in a recent HN thread that it’s a known issue.

From the HN comments, user redm commented:

My problem is that Google was a founder of Better Ads and its designed to 1) protect their ad business, 2) stop people from wanting ad blockers, and 3) make the web nicer. Huge emphasis on #1.

Whenever you have the browser maker, and punitive actions controlled by the same party, and arbitrarily, its a recipe for disaster.

If Google really cared, they should spin Chrome off to a foundation, provide it a large amount of funding, and totally step aside.

Having the #1 web browser and the largest ad network, controlled by Google, even if you agree with what they are doing, is a recipe for disaster.

Google, of course, MUST protect its ad business, let’s call his what it is.

The Coalition for Better Ads was founded by Google and other “advertising trade associations, advertisers, publishers, and agency groups that aims to rid the web of bad ads…”, according to Business Insider. “The Coalition was formed as a direct response to the rise of ad blocking, and will act as a kind of regulator for internet ads.”