If you haven’t heard, Google recently announced the launch of a new Chrome ad blocker which is built into the Chrome browser. The purpose of this ad blocker is to cut down on spammy and obnoxious ads.
The “bad ads” that will be blocked from now on include pop ups, full page ads, those with autoplaying video and sound, and flashing images, among others.
According to The Verge, Google will notify and give 30 days for sites to meet the standards determined by the Coalition for Better Ads, before actually removing ads like this from webpages. After the 30 days, all ads from the site will be blocked and subject to manual ad review by Google until they meet the standards.
Google announced that the ad blocker will officially go live on Thursday, February 15, 2018. We aim to answer your questions on the update in this episode of Monday Marketing Q&A. Check out the full video here:
Question 1: What impact will Chrome's new "built-in" ad blocker have on digital marketers?
CMay: If you’re a respectable marketer, it shouldn’t affect you.
Google is changing its browser to include a built in ad blocker. Rather than having to add one to your browser manually, now, it will come natively.
Most marketers won’t really be affected by this change, if they're upstanding and responsible. However, if you use sneaky, old-school tactics for SEO, like adding keywords to your webpages as white text on a white background or using obnoxious ads that are difficult to click out of or take up your entire screen, you will be impacted. If you still make use of these “strategies,” you should listen up, as this new Chrome feature will punish you for employing these tactics.
Your ads will be blocked. Consider yourself warned.
We predict that other browsers will add this feature down the road, which offers even more incentives for marketers to change their ways.
Question 2: How can marketers minimize the damage?
CMay: If you’re using bad ads, it’s time for you to change your tactics.
We’re not 100% sure what this update will look like or what its potential effects will be, but based on the information we do know, it should not wreak that much havoc on responsible marketers.
If you employ the shameful tactics we discussed before, then it's definitely time for you to rethink your marketing strategy. In fact, it’s about time.
Use this as an opportunity to learn more about your audience, upgrade your marketing strategy, and start delivering value.
Lucky for you, we have plenty of blogs and content offers that will get you on the right track, including our Marketing Persona Worksheet, What are Personas?, and What is Inbound Marketing?.
Question 3: Does this change affect my Google search ranking?
CMay: As far as we know, it should not affect your ranking. In fact, it looks like Google is treating these as two separate issues.
Google has been punishing brands for keyword stuffing and trying to hack the system by dropping Google search engine rankings for a while. This encourages brands to actually try to deliver value to customers, instead of finding a workaround.
If you're employing some of these questionable tactics, you’re already being punished by Google; now it will just be coming from a different department. Instead of having your rankings drop, your ads will be completely blocked and you will not be able to reach anyone with these poor tactics.
If you have a marketing question for us, please leave a comment or send us a message and we'll answer it in our next video. If you enjoyed this week’s edition of Marketing Monday, follow us on Facebook or subscribe to our Youtube channel.
Catch each episode on Mondays at 6 p.m., live on Facebook.