Google Chrome to block “annoying” and “intrusive” video ads

In an attempt to improve user experience, Google Chrome will block “annoying” and “intrusive” video ads. These “video ads” are the ones that run before and during video playback.

How do we define “annoying” and “intrusive” ads?

It is important to remember that Google blocks advertisements in Google Chrome that are considered to be particularly disruptive by the Coalition for Better Ads. 

The standards for disruptive ads were recently updated by the Coalition to include ads showing before and within videos. So that’s the type of advertisement that Google Chrome will now be blocked.

A research was conducted that 45,000 worldwide consumers participated in. According to that research, the following three ad experiences were considered disruptive.

1. Pre-roll ads — Pre-roll ads are long ads (more than 31 seconds long) that appear before a video and that the users cannot skip.
2. Mid-roll ads — Mid-roll ads are the ones that appear in the middle of video content. There is no qualifying time duration for mid-roll ads.
3. Text or image ads — This type encompasses all ads that appear on the top of a playing video and cover more than 20 percent of the playing video.

Note:  The ads were considered disruptive on videos that are less than 8 minutes long. Therefore, videos that are longer than 8 minutes can get away with any type of ads.

Will this also apply to YouTube ads?

Yes, Google has confirmed that YouTube will also have to comply with these standards. 

Google announced: “It’s important to note that YouTube.com, like other websites with video content, will be reviewed for compliance with the Standards. Similar to the previous Better Ads Standards, we’ll update our product plans across our ad platforms, including YouTube, as a result of this standard, and leverage the research as a tool to help guide product development in the future.”

When is this change rolling out?

Google Chrome will expand its ad-blocking capabilities from August 5, 2020. This will be a global change, which means that Google Chrome will block these ads in all countries.