Mute ads on websites that partner with Google

The "Mute This Ad" feature provides users with the ability to close or to stop seeing ads and signal which ads aren't interesting to them. The feature has benefits for everyone:

• Users: Greater control over their ad experiences
• Advertisers: No longer pay to show ads to people who aren't interested
• Publishers: More relevant ads for users, higher site satisfaction, and greater user engagement

How "Mute This Ad" works

"Mute This Ad" is a small overlay that appears in the top right corner of a creative. It allows a user to specify they no longer want to see an ad, and tries not show the user the same ad, or a similar ad, again. Visual features, advertiser, and ad landing page are all contributors to ad similarity.

To mute an ad, users:

1. Click or tap on the ad the user wants to mute.
2. Click or tap Stop seeing this ad.

3. Optionally indicate a reason for no longer wanting to see the ad. Options include:

   • Seen this ad multiple times (focused on ad frequency/remarketing)
   • Ad covered content (focused on page layout / ad rendering behavior)
   • Ad was inappropriate (focused on potentially inappropriate content)
   • Not interested in this ad (focused on targeting mismatch and ads personalization) 
   • Already bought this (remarketing)

Sometimes, Google can't provide a "Stop seeing this ad" option, and provides an option to "Report this ad" instead.

After a user mutes an ad, that same ad may be shown to the user again. This can happen under any of the following circumstances, among others:

• A user clears cookies
• A user visits a website outside the Google Display Network
• The advertiser is using another company to show the same ad
• Google's advertising systems don't recognize the user's device as being signed in
• The user selected "Ad blocked view" to report a problem with the ad's position, rather than its content

For advertisers

Excluded creative types

The following creative types do not include mute options:

• All video ads, including in-stream
• Creatives rendered by the publisher (for example, native ads)
• Creatives belonging to advertisers that have turned off ad badging, transparency, and reporting in their advertiser settings

Frequently asked questions

Is there an impact on Campaign Manager 360, Studio, and Google Web Designer creatives that are not used to buy media via Display & Video 360?

No.

Do I have to do anything to creatives to enable muting?

No, Display & Video 360 will automatically place the [X] in the corner of your creative. 

Can I opt out of the program?

Muting ads is a way for Google to provide better user experiences for all ads, and we believe it is beneficial for users, advertisers and publishers. Advertisers cannot opt-out of the [X].

Are advertisers billed for the impression if the ad is shown and the user clicks the [X]?

If the ad is a CPM ad, the advertiser pays at impression-time; even if the user clicks the [X] after it is shown.

Will this affect how my ads perform?

Only a very small percentage of ads are muted today. It's likely any direct impact on performance will be negligible, however, it should be positive for performance in cases where uninterested users will no longer be served those ads. 

Do advertisers have the ability to see the number of users that opted out of seeing their ads?

No, not yet. We are considering this for the future.

When a user mutes an ad, will it stay muted forever?

A specific creative is muted for the lifespan of the cookie (about 30 days).