Will AdBlock Blocker Full Page Alert Cause Drop in Traffic?

[Publisher Paul]

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System: The following message was cut out of thread at: https://www.webmasterworld.com/google_adsense/4951819.htm [webmasterworld.com] by martinibuster - 12:01 pm on Jul 8, 2019 (utc -5)

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Dear publishers,

I need your opinion.

I noticed that about 35% of my site users were using ad blockers and I was losing revenue every singe day.

So, I did some research and added the free script at the bottom of my site and my revenue immediately recovered about 20%.

This is how it works - if the script detects a visitor has installed ad blocker, it will hide all content from the visitor after 7 seconds and request the visitor to disable the ad blocker. The visitor can see the content again only after he/she disables the ad blocker.

But you know from 09 July 2019, Google Chrome will enforce Better Ads Standards.

One of the standards is - you cannot show an ad in full screen. The script is not showing any ad but it is surely locking the whole screen to show the message.
Standard page: [betterads.org...]

I am concerned if continued use of the script can cause any problem.

What are your opinions? Am I safe or not?

[edited by: martinibuster at 5:59 am (utc) on Jul 11, 2019]
[edit reason] Removed link. Discussion about effects, not the script itself. [/edit]

[matbennett]

I wouldn't imagine that this will be picked up by the Better Ads changes as they are actively looking for advertising. If you site is flagged for "bad ads" this will also be reported in Google Search Console before action is taken on the site so that you have time to correct. If action is taken that won't be traffic related, it will be that ads are blocked for Chrome users. I wouldn't overly worry about this part, but do make sure you are signed up for Search Console alerts.

I wonder if you are confusing too things though: If something on your site results is poor user experience / engagement for users then this might reflect in your organic search results. For example: If a significant proportion of users arrived at your site and as a result of the interstitial message decided to hit back and find what they were looking for elsewhere then this sends a clear signal to Google. That signal is that your site is not meeting the expectations of those users and therefore is possible less worthy of the search result than a site that does meet those expectations. This is s simplified version, but is very much linked to rankings.

The script itself isn't the potential issue, but the impact it has on user experience could be. The thing to monitor is how having the script changes user behaviour. Did bounce rate / visit depth change when you introduced it? (especially segmenting by those arriving from organic search). Can you split test that?

Lots of websites do have awful full page interstitial messages (in fact most SEO sites seem to now use them to plug their newsletter) . The key is whether they turn users away on your site or not.

[tangor]

Chuckles. ... Ad blocker users will still view the content simply turning styles off in the browser. Try it and see. :)

[NickMNS]

@tangor you may need to disable javascript, that will hide the ads and the ad-blocker-blocker (Not like you would notice since you're always on off).

[tangor]

I sat on the sample above until the seven seconds went by, the banner popped up, then I disabled styles and got the page back. :)

And yes, I do NoScript everything ... but recently removed ad block plus to see if it made a difference .... So very marginal over what NoScript does that I didn't bother to reinstall it.

[martinibuster]

The full screen warning, if triggered for Googlebot, could be problematic. One would have to visit the page with Googlebot set as the user agent.

Should that display for Googlebot then it could be seen as a full page ad and affect rankings and traffic.

Then there's the user experience aspect. It could be perceived as a negative user experience, regardless of whether Chrome is in use or not. A negative user experience could result in many people saying negative things about your site and encouraging others not to visit.

[universenet]

Dear publishers,

I need your opinion.

I noticed that about 35% of my site users were using ad blockers and I was losing revenue every singe day.

Publisher Paul

and how you noticed it?

[Publisher Paul]

Hello universenet!

I noticed it in Google AdSense report.

[NickMNS]

@Publisher Paul

I noticed it in Google AdSense report.

Can you be more specific?

[Publisher Paul]

Whatever you guys say I do not want any visitor to view the content of my site if he/she has no intention of viewing my Google AdSense ads.

If anyone does not want to see ads but read content, I do not want to welcome them on my site. There is no point of wasting bandwidth and other resources. I have no sympathy for ad-free Internet users.

More and more people are installing ad blockers. It is 35+% now.
They have crossed the limit.
Okay! Enough is enough.
I WILL NOT allow them to use my site.

[Publisher Paul]

@NickMNS

My Google AdSense revenue was slowly dropping over a long time and I was wondering "what's wrong?"

Then I did some research and found that more and more people were using ad blockers.
So, they are using my site but not viewing ads.

Finally, I decided to give that script a try.
I installed that script and saw an increase in Google AdSense daily revenue report.

[Runfun]

I've a popup that shows up every pageview if someone is using an adblocker. It can be closed easily, no problem, next pageview it's back again. I'm measuring visitors with adblockers easily with a script that's showing up in Analytics and I've reduced the visitors with adblockers to 10 to 12 percent.

[tangor]

I'm measuring visitors with adblockers easily with a script that's showing up in Analytics and I've reduced the visitors with adblockers to 10 to 12 percent.

Did your traffic also increase by 10-12%?

With the passage of GDPR and potential legislation which might come from the USA, these "blocks" will only increase, not decrease.

[Publisher Paul]

@tangor

It is not about traffic increase.

It is all about increase in ad views from your website visitors. If your site visitors are using ad blockers but think they really need to read/view your content, they will surely turn off their ad blockers. As soon as they turn off their ad blocker, you get a chance to earn money from this visitor.

On the other hand, a website visitor is useless if he/she will not turn off the ad blocker even after your request. He/she is just another ungrateful person who does not value your hard work and investment. Will this visitor work for free in his/her office/factory/farm/business? NO! NEVER! Then there is no point for us to provide them free content.

There is no free lunch.

[Publisher Paul]

@tangor

Whatever it is, I saw about 20% increase in Google AdSense revenue after installing the script in all my sites. This is a fact.

It seems like about 35% users of my site use ad blocker and 20% off them have turned off their ad blockers after I have installed the script. So. I got a chance to earn about 20% more.

I don't care anything else as this is earning me more money.

Without turning off ad blocker, I do not let anyone view my content for more than 7 seconds.
I have no obligation to feed content to the ad blockers.

[tangor]

@Publisher Paul ... I understand your thoughts, just don't agree completely. Yes, if you have monetization that does not invade via third parties not under your control then there's no expectation logical, and ad blockers will not bother you. Think direct sales/ads, which are perfectly fine (which I adopted about 10 years back). Served from my systems, under my control, and all data/PII are properly policed against exposure or sale thereof, and ad blockers ignore.

Nothing wrong with seeking income from the web... just do it the right way, and don't complain when others avoid the "easy way" of cut and paste third party ads WITHOUT THEIR AGREEMENT with no guarantee that their PII will be sold to OTHERS BY THAT THIRD PARTY.

Run the script. Show the banner! See Traffic Diminish! Most folks won't even do what I do from time to time ... defeat it and view the content anyway. They will depart for greener pastures. (Note: unless the page is unviewable in the first place if script blocker is present, game is over--and if unviewable, user will likely never be seen again...)

Nose. Meet Knife. Slice.

John Wayne said it ages ago ... "A man's gotta do what a man's gotta do."

My comment was that a SCRIPT will not force compliance from users, and can only offend those who aren't totally sure why they do ad blockers, but know they should because others have said they should ... and MSM is finally reporting on the data abuse and losses via breach, etc. This conundrum will only get worse. Folks will hit the back button and never darken your door again. And in that, a user is lost.

Side Note: NONE of the top sites on the web run this kind of script. Why? The last thing they want to do is DRIVE OFF traffic. That said, I GET IT. I FEEL YOUR PAIN. But I'm a pragmatist: I'd rather have a satisfied visitor than a ticked off visitor who has been inconvenienced in any way I COULD HAVE AVOIDED.

YMMV

[tangor]

@Publisher Paul ... comments above aside ... I do want to welcome you to Webmasterworld!

I am an old curmudgeon ... set in my ways, vocal, and sometimes abrasive ... but always with good heart and full interest in what we do on the web. But there are times I seem like an "A double S Hole" and for that I make no apologies as that non de plume sometimes fits. :)

WELCOME!

[tangor]

If anyone does not want to see ads but read content, I do not want to welcome them on my site. There is no point of wasting bandwidth and other resources. I have no sympathy for ad-free Internet users.

Final thought ... you have to serve the page in total (bandwidth expended) for the script to work seven seconds later ... not sure that saves anything.

Just sayin'...

[Dimitri]

Final thought ... you have to serve the page in total (bandwidth expended) for the script to work seven seconds later ... not sure that saves anything.

:)

[Runfun]

@Tangor, no I had about 25 to 30 percent of the users using adblockers, it's reduced to 10 to 12 percent now. So traffic increase or decrease doesn't matter. It's also difficult for my website to measure because the months with better weather there are less visitors and vice versa.

I've the same opinion as Publisher Paul, visitors who don't want to turn of their adblocker can leave or they will be annoyed by a popup each pageview. Because most visitors came back daily most turn their adblocker off ;-)

[trebuchet]

While I respect @tangor's perspective, I don't accept it.

I implemented a similar set-up on my largest site and watched traffic and visitor habits very closely for three months. I didn't see any loss of traffic, in fact, it increased slightly. Of course, it's possible to argue that traffic could/would have increased more without me raising the shutters to adblock users - but who's to know for certain.

My stance on adblocking has always been philosophical. I have worked hard for many years to write and create my own content. It is good content and it has value. The methods I use to monetise it do not alter or define its value.

My belief is that web users need to be educated that good content has value because if it is stripped of its value, before long there will be no good content, not outside intranets and subscriptions and paywalls anyway.

Thus ends the sermon. Go forth and sin no more.

[IanCP]

@Publisher Paul

Whatever you guys say I do not want any visitor to view the content of my site if he/she has no intention of viewing my Google AdSense ads.

Funny thing about that...

I go back to the days when we created informational sites. Sites all about the things we loved. No possible rewards in sight - the only exception in my genre were fellows offering DIY kits, and even that was a service.

There was no Google back then. Certainly no AdSense at all, and best of the lot? Very few corporations involved in the internet as publishers.

The only reason I monetised my site was because of the massive increases in traffic which were costing me a small fortune out of my retirement income. That was 21+ years ago. Amazon solved that - Amazon still do cover the costs. AdSense was just a once in a lifetime bonus from June, 2003 which then slowly went down hill from 2007 onward. It still pays some of my bills.

Since then? Sites made for AdSense alone... Sorry Publisher Paul but I can't respect people who view their visitors/customers/clients in the manner you did just above. My view is you do not deserve to succeed, nor should any similarly minded business person.

[tangor]

@iamlost ... Those apparently new to the web have to experience the realities ... and overcome some misunderstandings of how the world works.

Treat your visitors with respect (and commonsense) and one can build a business, else offend them all--and never see them again. (or make a dime)