{"id":339856,"date":"2017-05-03T00:18:57","date_gmt":"2017-05-02T16:18:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/techcrunch.com\/?p=1484284"},"modified":"2017-05-03T00:18:57","modified_gmt":"2017-05-02T16:18:57","slug":"google-will-now-allow-300x250-ads-above-the-fold-on-mobile-webpages-says-they-can-be-user-friendly","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/google-will-now-allow-300x250-ads-above-the-fold-on-mobile-webpages-says-they-can-be-user-friendly\/","title":{"rendered":"Google will now allow 300\u00d7250 ads above the fold on mobile webpages, says they can be \u201cuser-friendly\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

Google today announced<\/a> a change to its AdSense policy that will remove a limitation previously in place that restricted certain kinds of ads \u201cabove the fold\u201d \u2013 meaning, visible\u00a0on a website without scrolling down the page. The company says that it will now allow its 300\u00d7250 medium rectangle ads to be implemented above the fold on the mobile web, without resulting in AdSense violations.<\/p>\n

Oh great.<\/p>\n

These ads take up a good amount of space on a small screen as it is, but at least until today\u00a0you wouldn\u2019t have to encounter them unless you were scrolling down the page while reading an article. Now Google is saying they can appear on the visible part of the page you see when you first click through to a mobile website. That doesn\u2019t leave much room for content \u2013 like the headline, leading image or article text \u2013 especially on smaller-screened devices.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The change may have been\u00a0partly influenced\u00a0by consumers\u2019 preferences for larger smartphones, like the iPhone 7 Plus, Samsung Galaxy S8+, Google Pixel XL, Huawei Mate 9, and others that offer\u00a0more screen space. But according to Google\u2019s announcement, the decision was made because it realized that these ads can be \u201cimplemented above the fold in a user-friendly way\u201d where they don\u2019t \u201cannoy, distract, or result in ad performance issues.\u201d<\/p>\n

Really? Really?<\/em><\/p>\n

After all, this restriction was originally put in place because it was not<\/em> user-friendly. A medium-sized rectangle, by its very nature, will push much of the page\u2019s content below the fold, as\u00a0the ad itself takes up a good chunk\u00a0of the screen.<\/p>\n

As Google\u2019s own AdSense documentation<\/a> (yet to be updated) explains:<\/p>\n

\n

Publishers should ensure that their mobile site layouts do not cause ads to push the page content below the fold. For this reason, we don\u2019t allow 300\u00d7250 ad units (or larger) above the fold on mobile as this layout requires the user to scroll down to view site content. To ensure a good user experience, the site content should be clear and accessible above the fold. We would therefore encourage publishers to implement smaller ad units for above the fold placements on mobile site.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The company had also previously said<\/a> that a well-placed 300\u00d7250 ads could have a higher RPM (revenue per 1,000 impressions \u2013 an ad\u2019s estimated earnings for every 1,000 impressions.)\u00a0And it noted that its own\u00a0research indicated that a 300\u00d7250 ad unit placed just below the fold could generate an approximate 50 percent viewability rate.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Google, in today\u2019s\u00a0blog post<\/a>, encourages publishers to still be \u201cvigilant\u201d to ensure mobile site layouts don\u2019t cause ads to push the page content flow the fold in a way that could lead to accidental clicks, and it recommends that site content should be clear and accessible above the fold.<\/p>\n

But it\u2019s hard to square up those suggestions with the removal of the very restriction that would actively enforce the\u00a0desired behavior.<\/p>\n

Many of Google\u2019s plans for the mobile web have user-friendliness in mind \u2013 its AMP pages are faster loading on mobile and not covered in slow-loading ads (even if they\u2019re not the best deal for publishers), and its plans to include an ad-blocker in Chrome<\/a>\u00a0would further help remove the sorts of frustrating ads users today face.<\/p>\n

But at the end of the day, Google is an advertising company. This new move speaks to its need to put dollars over users, at a time when Google\u2019s cost-per-click continues to decline<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 a drop that Google has been staving off with more impressions<\/a>, keeping Wall St. happy. And allowing\u00a0these sorts of ads above the fold will certainly lead to more impressions, and likely\u00a0more clicks, too.<\/p>\n

Featured Image: Marcio Jose Sanchez\/AP<\/small><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\"\" Google today announced a change to its AdSense policy that will remove a limitation previously in place that restricted certain kinds of ads “above the fold” – meaning, visible\u00a0on a website without scrolling down the page. The company says that it will now allow its 300×250 medium rectangle ads to be implemented above the fold on the mobile web, without resulting in… Read More<\/a><\/p>\n

\n<\/img><\/a> <\/img><\/a> <\/img><\/a> <\/img><\/a> <\/img><\/a> <\/img><\/a>\n<\/div>\n

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