No More Pop-up Ads If Google Gets Its Way, Guilty Sites To Be Punished

Pop-up ads are considered the most annoying forms of advertising on the internet, along with ads inserted in YouTube videos and banners on mobile games that make them hard to play. Of the three, the first seems to have caught Google’s attention the most since the search engine site is now on a warpath. Any site caught getting their hands dirty with pop-up ads are now in its crosshairs.

Users absolutely hate pop-up ads and the same goes for its cousin, interstitials, The Verge reports. In an attempt to discourage websites and developers from using such annoying means of peddling their wares and getting revenue, Google will be pushing culprits to the very end of search page results and would even cut their ranks down to size.

On that note, there are a few things about the development that users should bear in mind before they start rejoicing. For one thing, the changes are not going to happen overnight, as there are thousands of sites using pop-ads. Sifting through them, even with Google’s advanced methods is going to take some time.

Another issue is the matter of a site’s quality. If the site is using said ad types but is also the best source of information in a particular niche, it isn’t likely that the site will get pushed too far back. In fact, it might just stay where it is. Then again, if two competing sites offer the same quality with one using pop-up ads and the other is not, the latter will likely benefit from the changes that Google will implement.

As the Wall Street Journal notes, this is going to be a huge blow for publishers who are relying on such ads to generate revenue. Once the changes take effect, publications will either have to find other sources of income or try to soften the blow by making arrangements with Google.