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Google to let sites charge ad-blocker users

Lauren Kate Rawlins
By Lauren Kate Rawlins, ITWeb digital and innovation contributor.
Johannesburg, 05 Jun 2017
Google wants Web sites to show better or no ads.
Google wants Web sites to show better or no ads.

Google is cracking down on ad-blocker users as well as Web sites with frustrating adverts. It has developed a way for Web site owners to give ad-blocker users a choice to either pay to view an ad-free page or see it with ads.

This type of pop-up is used by sites such as the UK's Guardian and The Telegraph, which urge ad-blocker users to whitelist their page as they rely on advertising to produce content.

Google's 'Funding Choices' gives Web site owners the option to install this type of pop-up easily in Chrome. However, the company says this will only be available to Web sites that create good advertising experiences for viewers and adhere to a list of best practices.

Google has joined the Coalition for Better Ads, which is where the best practices stem from, and hopes to make adverts less frustrating for visitors.

"It's far too common that people encounter annoying, intrusive ads on the Web - like the kind that blare music unexpectedly, or force you to wait 10 seconds before you can see the content on the page.

"These frustrating experiences can lead some people to block all ads - taking a big toll on the content creators, journalists, Web developers and videographers who depend on ads to fund their content creation," the company said in a blog post.

Google has also launched a new Ad Experience Report for publishers to learn how to make better adverts. It shows what annoying adverts look like and gives suggestions on how to fix them.

Funding Choices is meant to act as a reward for the Web sites that adopt favourable and less obtrusive advertising practices.

"As part of our efforts to maintain a sustainable Web for everyone, we want to help publishers with good ad experiences get paid for their work. With Funding Choices, now in beta, publishers can show a customised message to visitors using an ad-blocker, inviting them to either enable ads on their site, or pay for a pass that removes all ads on that site through the new Google Contributor," said Google.

Funding Choices is available to publishers in the US, UK, Germany, Australia and New Zealand, and will be rolling out in other countries later this year.

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