If you’ve kept your eye on the marketing news recently, you might have heard about something called the Google Chrome Ad Blocker. The ad blocker arrived at the end of February, and it’s designed to weed out those annoying ads that disrupt the browsing experience and that users hate. If you’re currently using video popups, or have plans to, there’s no need to panic, as Google won’t be filtering out all ads, but it’s important to make sure any popups on your site comply with the new guidelines.

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How Does Ad Blocker Determine A “Bad” Ad?

Google is blocking all ads that repeatedly violate the standards set out by the Coalition for Better Ads, an organisation developed to identify ads that rank low across a range of factors analysing user experience.

On desktop, ads that fall into this category include pop-up ads and video popups that autoplay sound, among others.

On mobile, blocked ads include again auto-playing videos and full-screen scrollovers. The reasoning behind this initiative is clear. There’s nothing more irritating when you click on a link and start reading an article, only for the page to push you back to the top where a huge ad covers the space. In 2017, it was revealed that as much as 30% of all users install some form of ad blocking software to prevent unwanted ads from disrupting their experience. The idea behind the initiative is to make blockers obsolete. Advertising is a key source of revenue for many businesses, and the Coalition for Better Ads aims to allow for advertisements to still be monetized while keeping the user’s experience front and centre. Whether it will achieve its goal remains to be seen.

What Happens If My Ads Don’t Comply?

As we’ve said, the Coalition, nor Google’s intention, is not to block all ads. They’re a key promotional tool that drives a lot of conversions for businesses. However, if you do have an ad that violates the standards, what will happen?

The fortunate news is, your ads won’t be blocked immediately. Google will evaluate your website and rate them as a pass, fail, or warning. If your website falls into the latter two, you’ll be notified within the Ad Experience Report section of Google Search Console, and given a period of 30 days to rectify the situation. It’s important you don’t ignore this as if after that period you’re still found to be in violation, all ads on your site will be blocked, regardless of whether your other ads are in accordance with the Coalition’s guidelines.

It’s important to bear in mind that the Coalition for Better Ad’s standards are simply guidelines, and aren’t universally enforceable. That means that users of different browsers, including Mozilla Firefox and Microsoft Edge, won’t see anything different. And, the Ad Blocker has only been introduced to the latest update of Chrome, released earlier this year. However, with Google Chrome being used by a staggering 60% of the market, it’s only a matter of time before existing users update, so make sure you’re covered.

What can I do to make sure my video popups comply?

Google has announced that it will be blocking video ads that are set to autoplay. While you’re then relying on users to make the move and watch your video, this is much better than having your ad completely blocked. The key is to pay attention to your copy: is it compelling? Is it encouraging users to watch your video? If not, then you’re doing video marketing all wrong. You should never expect users to watch your video just because it’s there. Like anything else, you have to work for that click.

However, because your video is within a popup, and Google Chrome is blocking certain popups, that means you’ll fail the test, right?

Not necessarily.

Let’s look at what the Coalition has to say about it:

So, what does this mean? If you’re using behaviour-based triggers, which is what Bouncezap is all about, then you’re absolutely fine. Notice how it says the above ad types aren’t included in the standards? This means that by using them, you won’t wake up to an unexpected warning.

But wait, it says “on a page that does not contain video content”, so video popups are out, right? Not necessarily!

It’s important to note that “prestitial ads”, those that force users to wait a certain period of time before they can close or progress, do violate the standards. However, these are not the same as welcome mats, or indeed, any other type of popup, which users can typically immediately click off of. You may have noticed Forbes “quote of the day” welcome mat used to have an annoying five-second countdown before you could access content. Now? It’s quickly disappeared, and you can be sure that it’s due to the Better Ad standards.

So as we see, popups executed correctly aren’t against the rules. It all comes down to making sure that you aren’t negatively affecting the user experience.

The reason we have to worry about ad blockers in the first place is due to the influx of marketers and businesses trying to shove a message in front of a user that isn’t interested. Instead, you should be striving to tailor your ad to those who will resonate with it.

The reason we created Bouncezap is to provide you with a way to increase your conversions by providing value to your visitors. We know that annoying ads will do nothing for your conversion rate and if anything, will turn users off to the point of no return. The whole point of conversion rate optimisation is to provide a user-friendly experience, which is why our tools are built to be “Google-friendly”, regardless of any future updates that may roll out.

So, if you are using popups, make sure you’re taking advantage of our triggers, such as filtering between new and returning visitors; and remember this: deliver value, and make it relevant.

Let’s look at an example. I recently visited Marketing Week, and do you know what I was met with? A large, annoying popup that completely disrupted my experience. And not only that, it appeared on every single page. What was my gut reaction? Complete annoyance. All I wanted to do was find a piece of information, and the ad, rather than encouraging me to register (their aim), it made me want to find what I needed elsewhere.

Let’s consider what would provide value. I’d be much more likely to engage with a video, especially if it resonated with something I’ve already seen. By segmenting your traffic, and making the popup relevant to something your visitor’s already seen, you’ll not only be staying in Google’s good books, but you’ll engage your audience more successfully. Say for instance, that I’ve clicked on a Facebook Ad, and I’m met with a video that makes me mentally connect the ad to the content I’ve just clicked on. That’s providing value, and I’m more likely to see what’s on offer, which we all know is key to securing a conversion.

The Google Chrome Ad Blocker is, in a way, expected. With so many people using ad blockers and affiliate and advertising revenues suffering because of it, it was only a matter of time before initiatives were set in place to combat it. While it’s inevitably going to cause issues for businesses who rely on spamming their audience with ads until they relent, it’s ultimately going to make the advertising space more thoughtful and user-centric, and at Bouncezap, we can hardly say that’s a bad thing.

Concerned about how Google Chrome’s ad blocker might affect the popups on your site? Sign up for your free Bouncezap account. Our platform is designed to be in line with the Better Ads Initiative, so you won’t have to worry about a warning from Google. And, if you need any support, a team of experts is always on hand to help you.