If you have received an email from Google titled “Google Ads Policy Update – Destination Requirements Policy," then you should know that starting in October 2022, Google will be revising its ad destination policy. Ad destination is where your ad leads users to... like a landing page. This policy will be updated to be in line with the ad experience guideline set forth by the Coalition for Better Ads, a group of online media companies that have set out to improve the user experience of online ads.
The guideline created by the Coalition for Better Ads is known as the Better Ads Standards. Over 150,000 consumers joined the study to develop the Better Ads Standards, which is used to ensure that ad experiences will not turn users into installing ad block.
Examples of ad experiences that are in violation of the Better Ads Standards are:
• Pop-up ads.
• Auto-playing video ads with sound
• Large sticky ads
• Flashing, animated ads
• Full-screen ads
Any ads with destinations that do not comply with the Better Ads Standards will be disapproved from running on Google's advertising platforms.
Are Law Firms Affected by Google's Destination Policy Change?
Generally, ad destinations for law firms advertising on Google’s platforms will be landing pages. Functionally, these landing pages are used to get prospective clients to contact the firm through relevant, informative content and call-to-actions that strengthen the law firm’s expertise and give confidence to users that reaching out to the firm is the right decision. Therefore, law firms do not typically design their landing pages to have large, intrusive ads that would take away from the user experience.
If your landing page does have ads, you can visit the Ad Experience Report and see your ad experience status.
Dexter Tam is a Google Partner Certified SEM Specialist at Custom Legal Marketing.