Google Ditching Interstitial Ads on Mobile
Google Ditching Interstitial Ads on Mobile
Many mobile websites promote their companion apps with full-page, pop-up ads that encourage visitors to download the app rather than view content on the mobile Web.
But according to a Google study, the vast majority of people ignore download prompts and continue to the mobile website. Which is why the company is ditching the ad format altogether.
The Web giant’s own internal studies have identified the ad interruptions as “poor experiences,” according to Google+ software engineer David Morell.
“On Google+ mobile web, we decided to take a closer look at our own use of interstitials,” he wrote in a blog post. Based on data collected last year, only 9 percent of visits to the company’s interstitial page resulted in the “Get App” button being pressed.
That number, however, is slightly skewed: Morell pointed out that some folks already had the app installed, while others never even completed the download process.
“While 9 percent sounds like a great CTR [click-through rate] for any campaign, we were much more focused on the number of users who had abandoned our product due to the friction in their experience.”
In a whopping 69 percent of cases, users simply exited the service without engaging with the mobile site or the app.
Google’s data was used last summer in an experiment to see how removing the interstitial would affect product usage. In place of the full-page pop-up, the company added a Smart App Banner to continue promoting its native app, but in a less intrusive way.
The results, Morell said, were surprising: One-day active users on the mobile website increased by 17 percent. Google+ iOS native app installs, meanwhile, dropped by 2 percent. (Install numbers from Android devices were not announced, since most come with Google+ pre-installed.)
“Based on these results, we decided to permanently retire the interstitial,” Morell said, encouraging other developers to do the same thing. “Let’s remove friction and make the mobile Web more useful and usable!”
The move comes five months after Google announced a new Google+ mobile stream design, improved sharing flow, and a faster overall experience. An app banner, however, can still be seen by those using iOS 6 and below.
malikmuddser