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Re: [External]Auto-refreshing advertisements

for

From: Sandy Feldman
Date: Jan 17, 2024 2:35PM

When you close a google ad it asks why, and gives a list to of reasons
to select. None of them say "it won't stop moving around!", but really,
that's my main reason.

Sandy
https://sandyfeldman.com
https://www.a11yready.com


On 2024-01-17 4:16 p.m., Eller, Meagan M wrote:
> I totally agree, Guy! I frequently leave sites that have auto playing and auto changing ads. Especially when the ads follow so they always appear onscreen as I scroll. Sometimes I can open a reader view of an article, but that's not always possible.
>
> Best,
> Meagan
>
> From: WebAIM-Forum < <EMAIL REMOVED> > on behalf of Guy Hickling < <EMAIL REMOVED> >
> Date: Wednesday, January 17, 2024 at 1:11 PM
> To: webaim-forum < <EMAIL REMOVED> >
> Subject: [External] Re: [WebAIM] Auto-refreshing advertisements
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>
>
> Just for a change in this forum, I can take my accessibility hat off and
> give a user's viewpoint. For me, these obnoxious auto-changing adverts are
> a nightmare. I find it very hard to concentrate on the web content I want
> to read when, right beside it, sits one (or even more) of these ever
> changing things.
>
> The Google example is one of the worst. Google makes all those pious claims
> of how accessibility-compliant it is, then it ruins millions of websites
> with it's WCAG-defying adverts!
>
> So, as a user trying to view content on a page, what do I do? - and I
> expect many other people who get distracted by these things do similar
> things. There's no way to stop the ads, of course (Google wouldn't want
> that, would it!) So, I first of all try narrowing the window box to force
> the ad to sit below or above the content I'm reading. If that works, then I
> can scroll the page up or down to move the offending ads out of sight. If
> that works, I can carry on reading the page content.
>
> But I should not have to do that. And sometimes that doesn't work. Next I
> may even try zooming to larger text to try to force the ad out of sight,
> but that doesn't always work either. And sometimes there may be more than
> one of these ad displays, and that makes it more difficult to push them all
> out of sight.
>
> Now, website owners please take note. By the time I've done all the above
> I'm getting angry. And, especially if my efforts to hide the ad have
> failed, I am very likely at this point, if not before, to simply abandon
> your website and look elsewhere for whatever product or information I am
> looking for. There are plenty more places to find things. Rather than
> struggle to stay on your site with the ad display permanently cavorting
> around in front of me!
>
> The solution, website owners, is DO NOT PLACE GOOGLE'S AUTO-CHANGING
> ADVERTS ON YOUR WEBSITE!!! You WILL lose potential customers - I cannot
> emphasise that enough. And oh - Google take note - I often click on your
> static adverts when they interest me, but I almost NEVER click on one of
> your auto-changing things. I'm too busy trying to hide it out of sight.
>
> Oh and one final thing. If you place several auto-changing ads on the same
> web page, I immediately assume you are not a quality author or influencer,
> but have only created a low quality site to try and make some money from
> advertising. That's one of the reasons I will quickly leave your website!
>
> P.S. If anyone here wants to republish my comments, or send them to Google,
> or to businesses using their adverts, please feel free to do so. The more
> we can step on these obnoxious advertisers and tread them into the mud, the
> better. I repeat to them, you WILL lose customers, and waste your adverting
> spending.
> > > > > > > >