Beginning August 5, 2020, Google Chrome will begin blocking some of the most intrusive video ads, according to a blog post.
According to the post, Google relies on the Better Ads Standards, developed by the Coalition for Better Ads. The group recently announced new standards, addressing some of the most intrusive types of video ads.
The first type is “long, non-skippable pre-roll ads or groups of ads longer than 31 seconds that appear before a video and that cannot be skipped within the first 5 seconds.”
The second type is “mid-roll ads of any duration that appear in the middle of a video, interrupting the user’s experience.”
The third type is “image or text ads that appear on top of a playing video and are in the middle 1/3 of the video player window or cover more than 20 percent of the video content.”
The Coalition has made it clear that website owners should stop showing these video ads within the next four months. As a result, effective August 5, 2020, Google will stop displaying these kinds of ads. Google also makes clear that YouTube will be reviewed to ensure compliance with the new guidelines.
This announcement is good news for anyone who has had to sit through these kind of ads, and Google is to be commended for quickly implementing the Coalition’s new guidelines.