Using Google’s Publisher Toolbar to Block an Ad

This post was most recently updated on July 19th, 2019

Imagine this scenario: you’re browsing your website, and you see an ad that totally clashes with the image you’re trying to portray. For example, in an article about feminism, an ad runs about “easy ways to pick up women”. Disaster! What do you do?

Luckily, Google’s Publisher Toolbar, a downloadable chrome extension, makes it easy to report and block ads from your website without ever touching the dashboard. Gone are the days of logging into the dashboard and finding a difficult-to-find option to block an ad.

In addition to easy blocking and reporting controls, the Chrome toolbar provides up-to-date information on your account with an overview of earnings and performance.

Google Publisher Toolbar Features

The Google Chrome Publisher Toolbar can be accessed from the Chrome browser with an account overview pop-up icon. This makes for a much easier workflow than the old method of logging into your dashboard every time you want to make a change. When you’re logged into the Google Publisher Toolbar, you can also perform a “test click” without counting clicks as ad spam, so you can see what happens when you click on an ad.

The ad detail window gives site owners the power to control the ads on their sites and is accessible from any overlay. This tiny, powerful window provides you with controls to do the following:

• Block an ad
• Block a URL or an Ad network
• Report a problem
• Provide a more detailed view of an ad

When you block by URL, you prevent specific URL to appear on the site.

Here’s how to do it:

• Click the overlay of the ad whose URL you want to block.
• The “Google Publisher Toolbar – Ad Details” window will load.
• Click the drop-down menu under the ad preview.
• Select “Block ads” for the URL you want to block.
• Blocked ads display a red Blocked banner and will be added to the URL filter list.

When you block by the ad, you prevent individual ads from appearing on the site.

And here’s how to do that:

• Enable Ad Review Center to be able to block individual ads
• Ad Review Center will be enabled after an hour.
• Click the ad’s overlay that you wish to block.
• The “Google Publisher Toolbar – Ad Details” window will load.
• Click the drop-down menu under “Ad preview” and select “Block this Ad.”
• Blocked ads display a red Blocked banner and will be seen on the Blocked ads Tab in the Ad Review Center.

Blocking by Ad Network prevents ads from a Google-certified ad network from showing on the site.

To block ads from an ad network:

• Click the overlay of the ad whose Ad network you want to block.
• Select “Block ads” from the ad network you want to block.
• Blocked ads will display a red Blocked banner and will be seen when you go to “Allow & Block Ads” and clicking ad networks.

Google Publisher Toolbar can be an incredibly powerful tool for managing the ads on your site. Use it to your advantage!