Additional triggers for vignette ads

Today, we're announcing some enhancements to vignette ads designed to help you capture more revenue from engaged users without disrupting their experience. We're introducing a suite of additional triggers that allow vignettes to appear based on specific user interactions. To help you benefit from these improvements, we'll automatically enable these new triggers in your account in one month unless you opt out.

What's changing

Currently, vignette ads primarily appear when users navigate between pages. Starting from 9 February 2026, we'll add a new control called Allow additional triggers for vignette ads in your Auto ads settings. This control will manage both the new and existing ways that vignettes are triggered. These changes are designed to unlock incremental revenue by identifying additional high-value impression opportunities.

Additional triggers show vignette ads when a user:

Existing triggers:

• Unhides a tab/window (for example, when they revisit a tab/window after going to another tab/window, revisit a tab/window after unlocking the device screen or maximise a window after minimising it)
• Clicks the browser's navigation bar (desktop only)
• Opens a page within the same site in a new browser tab and then switches to that tab.

New triggers:

• Reaches the end of a page's main article element and either they start scrolling back up, or 5 seconds elapse on mobile or 10 seconds on desktop.
• Is inactive for at least 30 seconds followed by user interaction (the timer starts after the last user interaction – for example, a scroll or click).
• Navigates backward using their browser's back button on supported browsers (currently Chrome, Edge and Opera).

Note: This new control also governs a subset of existing triggers. By keeping this setting 'on', you ensure that all available vignette opportunities are active.

What you need to know

• 1-month review period: While the new setting will appear in your account as turned on (selected) starting 9 February 2026, it will not affect your site's actual ad delivery for one month. During this period, your existing vignette behaviour will remain unchanged.
• Automatic activation: You have the option to opt out, but if you take no action during the review period, the new triggers will automatically activate on 9 March 2026.
• Guardrails: We will continue to respect your existing frequency cap settings (e.g. minimum time between vignette ads showing up) to ensure a balanced user experience.
• Opting out: You can opt out at any time. However, note that disabling this control will also turn off the existing triggers.

How to opt out of additional triggers

If you don't want to allow additional triggers, you can opt out:

1. Sign in to your AdSense account.
2. Click Ads.
3. In the table of all your sites, click Edit next to your site. Your site opens in the ad settings preview.
4. Click Overlay formats.
5. Click Advanced settings, then untick Allow additional triggers for vignette ads.
6. Click Apply to site.