Google, Again!

Nag, nag, nag. Google is good at many things, but one area where it outshines is nagging. Don't try to argue with it, because it knows that it knows more than you do. Case in point: since June 2020, I've been receiving emails with subject 'Let Google place ads for you', a total of eight so far. Since March 2021, I've been receiving other emails with subject 'Let Google choose the best ad sizes for you', just two so far, but I'm expecting more. I've managed to ignore all of these messages until now, but a few months ago I received a more urgent email:-

Subject: Matched content units will only show ads starting 1st March 2022
Date: 24 Nov 2021
From: Google AdSense

'Starting 1st March 2022, Matched content units will only show ads, and be renamed to "Multiplex ads". We originally launched Matched content as a recommendation service to help you promote your content to your site's visitors. It also came with the option to show ads alongside the links to your content.

'Due to decreasing usage of the content promotion service, and positive customer feedback and performance results from an ads-only Matched content ad format, we've decided to turn down the content promotion service and convert all existing Matched content units to only show ads.'

If 'matched content' doesn't mean anything to you, five years ago I worked on a series of posts to implement it on my site:-

• 2016-12-26: Engines, (Google), Korchnoi • 'For the last few months Google has been bugging me to add "Matched Content" to my m-w.com site.'
• 2017-01-02: Google's 'Matched Content'
• 2017-01-09: 101 Pages with 'Matched Content'
• 2017-01-16: Mixed 'Matched Content'

That's another area where Google outshines : pushing you to implement one of its services, then pulling the service a few years later. Another case in point:-

• 2019-02-07: Google+ Sunsets • Re 'I don't know when Google Plus will close, but Google doesn't waste time when it takes action.'

Last year I noticed that some of the ads displayed by Google were ginormous. Here's a screenshot from one of my most popular pages...

Top 10 Myths About Chess (m-w.com)

...The ginormous ad ('Play for Free') in the top part of the page takes up nearly 50% of the screen's display. The bottom part of the page shows an example of 'matched content', which is even larger.

Given (1) that Google is nagging me to use new services, (2) that I need to reconsider the use of 'matched content', (3) that I need to decide if I want to continue to run such large ads, and (4) that there are other Google issues to be addressed (not mentioned here), I'm going to tackle Google issues over the next few posts. The update for Magnus Carlsen's Tournament, Match, and Exhibition Record (TMER), last seen in Carlsen's TMER 2019-21, Checkpoint (December 2021), will have to wait.