Google Chrome will soon begin blocking all ads (including those served by Google) on websites that repeatedly include certain "non-compliant" (annoying) ads:
In June, Google revealed that Chrome will stop showing all ads (including those owned or served by Google) on websites that display non-compliant ads "starting in early 2018." Now the company has committed to a date: Chrome's built-in ad-blocker will start working on February 15, 2018.
[...] Google this year joined the Coalition for Better Ads, a group that offers specific standards for how the industry should improve ads for consumers — full-page ad interstitials, ads that unexpectedly play sound, and flashing ads are all banned. Yesterday, the coalition announced the Better Ads Experience Program, which provides guidelines for companies using the Better Ads Standards to improve users' experience with online ads.
[...] The hope is that Chrome's built-in ad blocker will stymie the usage of other third-party ad blockers that block all ads outright. Google has noted in the past that ad blockers that do not discriminate hurt publishers that create free content (like VentureBeat) and threaten "the sustainability of the web ecosystem." Despite the fact that Google makes the vast majority of its revenue from ads, the company sees its selective ad blocker as the natural evolution of pop-up blockers.
Also at Engadget, Variety, and 9to5Google.
Previously: Google Preparing to Filter "Unacceptable Ads" in 2018
(Score: 2) by requerdanos on Wednesday December 20 2017, @05:20PM (1 child)
You hit on a good point there that exposes something about the standards... Auto-playing video is bad, bad, bad. But - not specifically annoying enough to be "the absolute worst" experience that would send normal people screaming for something to block the annoyingness.
It takes someone with a level of knowledge and sophistication (the bar is pretty low for that) to connect that little silent film with "Muh [Mega|Giga]bytes".
It seems the standards are written to allow "get away with everything you can, but don't outright piss them off".
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 20 2017, @06:11PM
Is that not how the US government works?
None of these tactics are new. The difference is that the behaviors are old--the millenials these are mostly targeted at don't have that experience to know this yet.
Eventually they will wisen up, but then next generation will fall victim to the next test of how much the "entity$" can get away before "customer$/resource$" puts a stop to it. No amount of education teaches a person that wet paint is wet, don't touch it. They do it anyway, and they'll punch the monkey in VR when it comes down to it.