Google this week went live with its new ad blocker for Chrome. Wait, what? Doesn’t Google rake in massive revenue from internet ads? Well, yes. Keep reading.

Turns out, Google just wants to block annoying ads. The hope is that if ads are more engaging and useful to Chrome users, then fewer people will be inclined to install third-party ad blockers. Specifically, Google wants to accomplish three things: (1) decrease the use of third-party ad blockers; (2) present users with more useful and engaging ads; and (3) encourage marketers to publish less annoying and intrusive ads.

With these objectives in mind, the search giant joined the Coalition for Better Ads, a group that has devised a set of criteria dubbed the “Better Ads Standards,” and has now adopted those standards into its Chrome browser.

The Coalition for Better Ads officially describes the Better Ads Standards like this:

The obvious question for marketers now is, of course, “How do I know whether my ads are compliant with these standards?” What follows is a quick-and-dirty overview of how the ad filtering works and what types of ads don’t meet the Better Ads Standards (a more complete and detailed description can be found on the Chromium Blog).

There are four types of desktop ads and eight types of mobile ads that do not meet the Better Ads Standards.

[The images below are from the Coalition for Better Ads website.]

Desktop Ads

• Auto-playing video ads with sound 
• Prestitial ads with countdowns 
• Large sticky ads 
• Pop-up ads 

Mobile Ads

• Pop-up ads 
• Prestitial ads 
• Ad density higher than 30% 
• Flashing animated ads 
• Auto-playing videos with sound 
• Postitial ads with countdown 
• Full-screen rollover ads 
• Large sticky ads 

But don’t panic: Google isn’t exactly planning to embark on a massive, hired-guns-style, ad-blocking rampage. If a website’s ads fail the Better Ads Standards, the site owner will be given an opportunity to remedy any ads identified as problematic. Here’s how it works:

• Google will evaluate the site for violations. This evaluation will be based on a sampling of pages from that site.
• The evaluation will result in the assignation of one of three possible grades:
  • Passing
  • Warning
  • Failing
• If Google identifies any violations during the evaluation, the owner of the site will be notified and will have 30 days from that notification to address the violation and resolve it.
  • Once they’ve fixed the identified issues, the site owner can submit their site for re-review.
  • If the violations remain unresolved after 30 days from the owner being notified, Chrome will start blocking ads on that site.

Publishers won’t simply be left out to dry, though. Google has taken steps to help site owners and marketers understand and comply with the new criteria.

• The Ad Experience Report. This is a new tool developed by Google to provide site owners and ad publishers with a clear idea of how the Better Ads Standards apply to their own websites and pages.
• Guidelines & Recommendations. Google has published some guidelines and best practices, including recommendations on what types of ads to use in place of those that fail the Better Ads Standards. Those resources can be found here.