In 2018, Google Chrome took a major step in influencing the advertising industry to create better ads when they started automatically blocking and filtering distributive ads for users in the U.S., Canada and Europe. Chrome is continuing this push worldwide starting July 9, 2019. The new version of Chrome will block 12 types of intrusive and disruptive ads, including pop-ups, auto-playing video ads with sound, flashing animated ads, and prestitial ads on both mobile and desktop versions of Chrome. By taking major steps to block disruptive ads, the industry is influenced to take action and create better ads.

If you’re reading this article on a browser, there’s a good chance you’re using Google Chrome. According to the United States government, Chrome is the most popular web browser by visitors of all U.S. government sites, with about 46% of 2.82 billion visits over the past 90 days. Google Chrome’s ultimate goal to build a better web for everyone, everywhere seems to have paid off. Over the past decade, droves of users have ditched Internet Explorer or Firefox for Chrome.

While pop-up ads or flashing animated ads may not be in any reputable brand’s arsenal, many brands still place video inventory in outstream video placements, which are highly disruptive to the user experience – so disruptive that developers of Chrome decided to block them. Many brands fall victim to being placed in auto-play video inventory without knowing it. Outstream video is considered disruptive because the video auto-plays with sound while a user is browsing a web page. Often, the video player is programmed to “follow” the user as they scroll down the page, presumably to maximize seconds viewed and to count as a viewable video impression.

Google estimates that less than 1% of websites have had their ads filtered during an early test of the tool; however, the practice of outstream video runs rampant, even with so-called “premium publishers” (I’m looking at you, MentalFloss.com).

Google has been providing publishers with the tools to review their site status, called the Ad Experience Report. Advertisers and brands can benefit from this as well by understanding which types of placements and creative are blocked, by taking action to create better ads for consumers, and by actively avoiding disruptive placements. Google is developing these updates in conjunction with the Coalition for Better Ads, which believes in creating better, more relevant ads and positive user experiences for consumers.

Here is a full list of the current types of ads blocked by Chrome:
• Desktop pop-up ads on desktop and mobile
• Desktop prestitial ads with countdown
• Mobile prestitial ads
• Mobile poststitial ads with countdown
• Auto-play video ads with sound (outstream) on desktop and mobile
• Large sticky ads on desktop and mobile
• Ad density of over 30% of the page
• Flashing animated ads
• Mobile full-screen scroll-over ads