California – Remember that interstitial ad that popped out from nowhere, blocked your screen and nagged you to download an app you most likely didn’t need? Google heard your grunts and has just responded by removing the ad format from its own Google+ social media platform to miniminize friction with online user experience.
The tech giant blogged about the result of a case study they did, which found that 7 in 10 visitors (69%) served with interstitial ads on Google+ went straight out the door, neither downloading the app, nor going on to visit the mobile website.
Google then tried putting on their Smart App Banner in hopes to promote native apps in a less intrusive way. The result? 1-day active users on our mobile website increased by 17%.
Google+ iOS native app installs were mostly unaffected (-2%). The company noted that Android installs we’re not reported to keep the study fair, since most Android devices come with Google+ installed.
Google however got rid of banner ads in later versions of Google+ for iOS to keep the online experience as smooth as possible, says David Morell, Software Engineer at Google+.
“Based on these results, we decided to permanently retire the interstitial. We believe that the increase in users on our product makes this a net positive change, and we are sharing this with the hope that you will reconsider the use of promotional interstitials. Let’s remove friction and make the mobile web more useful and usable.”
