Optimize mobile ads and popups

Business Benefits

Improve user bounce rates and reduce frustration.


Consider whether experiences depend on popups before using them.

There’s a fine line between harassing users with excessive popups and not using them at all. Users generally accept popups in a few, select scenarios:

  • When helping users make a decision. For example, when a user is reading a preview of an ebook, a popup can be used to prompt them to enter their email address or buy the book to continue reading.
  • When you want users to confirm their decision. For example, you can use a popup to confirm whether a user is ready to check out.
  • To focus on a specific piece of content. For example, when users click on a product image or video.

Use tools like Boxzilla for WordPress to create popups triggered by user scrolling for site promotions or to gather emails.

This gives users a chance to see the quality of your content, making them more likely to be interested in your offer or signing up to your newsletter.

Start by setting your triggers to the middle of your pages and test different scroll depths until you find a depth with the highest CTRs. Ask your web developer to set up popup triggers if you use a different platform.

Prioritize content and display important information like your value proposition, CTA, and navigation menu before ads.

Users blinded by ads the second they land on a page are more likely to feel harassed and will quickly leave without giving a second thought to your value proposition, CTA, or other important information.

Use sticky ads over ads placed at the top of a page or beneath content whenever possible to avoid creating false bottoms.

A false bottom is when content signals a logical end and gives the illusion of completeness, like the point where users think your pages end, regardless of whether there’s more to follow. Examples of ads that create false bottoms include ads that span the entire visible area, banner ads that look like footer ads, and ads with plenty of whitespace placed in between paragraphs.

Use a consistent and predictable content design or format to set visual expectations and avoid creating false bottoms.

Using a consistent content format helps users better tell content apart from ads.

Use visual cues like downward arrows, a cut-off, or Continue or Keep Reading buttons to encourage scrolling when you need to place ads within content.

Visual cues communicate that there’s more to read and avoid creating false bottoms, thus lowering bounce rates.

Use a tool like Mouseflow to analyze scroll maps and identify potential false bottoms in areas where scrolling stops or users tend to drop off.

Users dropping off or bouncing at a particular point could indicate content or ads, creating the illusion of a false bottom that needs to be addressed.

Last edited by @hesh_fekry 2023-11-14T11:40:44Z