Disruptive pop-up ads – they’re the bane of our internet browsing existence. I’m sure I’m not alone when I say that I can’t stand pop-up ads that take over my whole screen or make themselves known right as I begin to browse a page. So when I heard that Google was planning to apply ranking penalties to web pages using these mobile interstitials, I was pretty impressed.  

According to Google’s Webmaster Central Blog, as of January 2017: “pages where content is not easily accessible to a user on the transition from the mobile search results may not rank as highly.”

Examples of intrusive interstitial ads. Source: Google Blog

However, this is understandably not great news for advertisers - particularly given that pop-ups (as much as they are hated by customers) do work. For example, according to webmeup, pop-ups can double your subscription rate! 

So what can advertisers do? My advice is to start adopting less-disruptive advertising methods – such as exit pop-ups. While these are of course still technically a pop-up, the great thing about exit adverts is that they are far less intrusive than most others; only appearing when a reader chooses to navigate away from your website. Essentially, they're like a ‘last chance’ offer to invite your visitor to stay on your page. An example of an effective exit-pop up – that can also instantly drive up your sales – is a discount offer.

There are lots of other great examples of exit pop-ups, and I encourage you to have a play around with the format to see which kinds work best for your business!