Adverts are seen as necessary, but not all adverts are written in good faith or lead people to appropriate landing pages for the best of reasons. This could be soon about to change based on something which is described as a crackdown on ‘intrusive adverts.’ Our latest blog post will take a closer look at what exactly is going on and what people can expect to happen.
What is happening?
Google has implemented a new policy concerning intrusive ads, and we will take a closer look at what that entails in a second. In short though, advertisers have until October to comply with it – so not long at all! After this time, advertisers will simply have their adverts disapproved and they will not be shown.
This change all comes about off the back of the Coalition for better Ads recommendations. This is Google’s attempt to replicate this into its own version called ‘better ads standards,’ concerning any landing pages which a web master is responsible for. Email’s are in the process of being sent to everyone informing them of this change and what could happen if people do not comply. The reality means that if you are running any form of Ads, you will soon need to be very careful about how your ad is displayed and the landing page it is linked to, or you could find yourself in trouble. In essence, Google wants to avoid sending people to pages which give them an annoying or unsatisfactory experience.
How will I know if I comply with any changes?
The good news is that many people probably already comply with the new rules, perhaps without even knowing. We understand that if you have used and followed Google’s page experience update, chances are you will already comply and have little to worry about. It isn’t clear however that it means you will be safe in a ‘future proof’ sense (i.e. anything you have done since looking at and applying the page experience update.)
Google have also indicated that in addition to the warning email, they are going to let individuals know whether they comply with this change, by being informed in the Ads experience report that is available for webmasters to view.
What are some examples of aspects that may not comply?
From what we have seen and discovered, look out for some of the following. If any apply to your adverts (and corresponding landing pages) you must act fast to make changes or you could find that your campaigns begin to suffer!
* Adverts which ‘pop up’ on a page.
* Adverts which start playing a sound automatically without the user first opting to do so.
* Adverts which restrict audience from seeing the main content on the page, unless they engage with the advert in some way.
* Adverts which have a 30% density or more.
A consideration to remember…
When going through your adverts it can be difficult to gauge whether you think they will comply with the new rules. A good thing to remember is to put yourself in the audience’s position and ponder whether the advert or landing page interferes with their experience in any way? If yes or you are not sure, chances are it will become an issue.
Does this blog post worry you into wondering about your PPC campaigns? Our PPC management services can help. Please click the link to find out more.