Google Addresses Accidental Mobile Clicks

[netmeg]

Even as smartphone and tablet screen sizes get bigger, it can be hard for our fingers to keep up. It’s still so easy to click when you mean to swipe or to tap on a link or ad you didn’t mean to. When it comes to mobile ad clicks across networks, recent third party studies estimate that up to 50% of clicks are accidental. For advertisers, this can artificially inflate clickthrough rates and increase costs.

As we continue to enhance our display ad formats to make them more engaging, we also strive to maximize click quality. In 2012, we introduced confirmed clicks on banner ads to prompt users to verify that they actually meant to click on an ad. Over the past year, we’ve expanded on those efforts to provide greater automation and require less work from users. Now, to make the experience even more seamless, we’re automatically blocking ad clicks in several instances that frequently lead to accidental clicks.

[adwords.blogspot.com...]

This is from the AdWords side, but it will affect publishers too. If you've been benefiting from accidental clicks on mobile sites or apps, you might see a change. If you do see a change, you might want to think about your layout.

Here's more info:

[marketingland.com...]

[LostOne]

I absolutely hate mobile advertising, but I'm not younger and don't use it for ordering pizzas or buying ringtones. I'm in that 50% area for sure.

Yup, just like the article writer. Four times is not unusual.

Sounds like a good plan for Goog.

[engine]

This has to be welcomed. I know i've had fat-finger problems on a small screen and hit an ad in error. Backing up is easy, and pretty much immediate when I realise what's going on.

[ember]

Good news. Something had to be done. Should instill more confidence in Adwords and mobile advertising in general, which can only benefit publishers, even if clicks might now be fewer.

[keyplyr]

I have accidentally launched desktop & mobile ads myself. When I had a smaller screen phone, I had to take extra effort not to launch ads by mistake.

I see many sites with ads in the middle of content w/ black text & no border seemingly to capitalize on accidental clicks. The temptation was there, but when I did a preliminary site redesign prior to coding for responsive, I decided to be proactive and avoid any layout issues that might later become problematic as the mobile internet grew. I have too many things going on than to worry about penalties.

[incrediBILL]

Amazing that they can do this but they can't stop my butt from dialing the phone.

[netmeg]

Amazing that they can do this but they can't stop my butt from dialing the phone.

And you don't even keep your phone in your back pocket! ork ork

[JAB Creations]

I bought a new smart phone a couple months ago and the touch registers half an inch from the phone! I think Google, having bought and continued to develop Android would be a bit more capable than what I've read here.

John

[keyplyr]

Amazing that they can do this but they can't stop my butt from dialing the phone.

Time to upgrade your butt.

[Broadway]

So this is already in effect? If I was going to see a change in ctr I would have seen it by now?

[ember]

To date, we’ve seen a 15% average conversion rate lift on display ads by driving more qualified clicks with these updates

From their blog. Sounds like it's already in play.