Google Chrome’s update limits the display of heavy advertising materials

Background

Google is introducing a feature in Chrome version 85 that can intervene in the display of heavy or CPU-intensive content. This feature is called Heavy Ad Intervention. Google started rolling out this feature gradually in September 2020 for browsers updated to Chrome 85. A specific date for full implementation has not yet been provided by Google.

Google Chrome is a very popular browser and covers a significant portion of Alma Media’s users. When designing advertising material, it is important to consider the browser’s limitations and constraints to ensure the ad is displayed as intended to the target audience.

Since version 80 (released early 2020), Chrome browsers have allowed users to manually select the blocking of heavy ad content in settings.

What does this mean?

Google Chrome’s Heavy Ad Intervention removes ad content from view under the following conditions:

• The weight of the downloaded material exceeds 4 MB. This applies to the total weight of the ad, meaning all the elements it loads (e.g. images, videos, scripts, measurement pixels, fonts, etc.)
• The ad uses the processor for 15 seconds within 30 seconds.
• The ad uses the processor for a total of 60 seconds.

The most significant and most frequent cause of blocking is the total weight of the content exceeding 4MB.

Heavy Ad Intervention affects all ad materials displayed within an ad iframe1. It can remove completely ordinary ad banners, outstream videos, or programmatically purchased ad displays if they violate Chrome’s restrictions.

Google Chrome does not block ad content if the user has interacted with the ad, such as pressing the play button (click to play) or clicking on the next item in the ad (click). Simply moving the mouse over the ad content is not sufficient.

At Alma, we continuously monitor the situation and respond as necessary.

Campaigns purchased directly from Alma: We check all ad materials received to ensure they comply with our provided material guidelines. If we detect potential issues with Google Chrome and Heavy Ad Intervention, our advertising management will contact you regarding the material and request necessary corrections.

Programmatically purchased campaigns: It is possible to win an auction for an impression with content that exceeds the limits. However, if the content violates Chrome’s rules, it will be removed from view when the limits are exceeded. This negatively impacts campaign results and user experience. We are currently unable to monitor content that exceeds the limits, so it is important for the buyer to ensure that the content complies with the guidelines.

How to prepare and what can be done?

When designing ad content, consider the following points:

• The total weight must not exceed 4MB. This includes all downloadable resources. Including measurement pixels placed with the campaign, as well as viewability monitoring and scripts set by third parties.
• Optimize and compress the image and video elements you use as best you can.
• Rich Media in ads encourages the user to engage with the ad, making it possible to download more resources without Chrome browser limiting their visibility.
• Animations made with WEbGL are significantly lighter than those made with HTML5.
• If it is not possible to lighten the material further, consider converting the implementation to click to play format instead of autoplay.
• Pay attention to the length of the video materials. By cutting and optimizing the video to be shorter, you save on file weight. Editing a 30-second video to 15 seconds saves significantly on file size.
• Try to implement the materials always using polite loading. Light pre-loading where an important message or brand is visible to the consumer as quickly as possible while heavier parts are being loaded.
• Autoplay videos with a maximum length of 15 seconds can include a restart feature.
• With Autoplay materials, it might be a good idea to finish the videos that are closer to 30 seconds in an end frame, i.e. the last frame works as the final image, when the video stops.

Optimized and well-executed ad content yields better results. Lighter ad content appears faster on the user’s screen, does not burden the user’s device or browser, and provides a better overall user experience.

With the Alma Visuals tool used at Alma, it is easy and flexible to create impactful and interactive ad solutions that take into account the technical challenges caused by restrictions.

Contact our media sales, and we will tell you more about the versatile possibilities offered by Alma Visuals.

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