BulletinsFebruary 5, 2020
Google Chrome will soon block annoying video ads.
Come August, advertisers won't be able to run some long video ads in Google's Chrome browser, Google announced.
On videos less than eight minutes long, the browser will block "non-skippable" pre-roll ads, mid-roll ads, and image or text ads that obscure a big chunk of video.
- This has the potential to shape the way all online video ads work in the future.
- Advertisers have four months to remove the now-verboten ad types.
- The tech giant says it's doing this to comply with new standards introduced by the Coalition for Better Ads and to protect people from "annoying and harmful experiences."
- While Google says it will review YouTube for compliance, the Verge points out it's likely YouTube already complies.
- The announcement comes weeks after Google took flak for new desktop search results that made it difficult to distinguish ads from search results. Facing pressure, Google backtracked and said it would "experiment further."