Google has released guidance for publishers to steer the internet into a less annoying place, led by better advertising.

Avoid the annoyance: pop-ups

Number one on the list of annoyances for regular web users is pop-ups ads, accounting for 97% of standards violations for desktop browsers and 54% on mobile. Half of those surveyed said they wouldn’t revisit or recommend a page that had a pop-up ad.

Mobile users also expressed a strong disdain (21%) for high ad density, which is known to slow load times and occupy prized mobile screen space.

Other irritations include sticky ads, distracting animations, unexpected rollovers and auto-play videos.

What’s the motivation?

Google wants people to stop using ad blockers. Google makes its money from advertising and is genuinely invested in getting users to accept advertising.

Google research says that 69% of people who use adblockers started doing so because they felt the ads they were seeing were annoying or intrusive.

So, this guidance aims to mitigate that so the web can continue to run as an ad-funded network, and Google can keep winning.

Get your sites straight

Read more about the guidance on Google’s blog.

Check whether your website conforms to the Better Ad Standards with Google’s free Ad Experience Report tool.

What online ad methods get your goat? Are there any situations where these methods are still justified?

Copy Transmission is a Melbourne-based agency :: Better Brands. Loud & Clear.