Advertisers will now not have to pay Google for non-viewable display ads, the search giant has claimed.

The announcement by Google Display Network (GDN) at SMX East conference in the US is considered by some to be the first step by the company to counter ad blockers, and coincides with Apple’s decision to provide official support to its apps with ad blockers.

It is hoped that the move will benefit advertisers as they would only pay for ads that have meaningful impact.

Concerns were raised by advertisers that 56% of display ads never get a chance to be viewed due to being scrolled out of the view, the tabs not being activated or being below the fold.

“I’m pleased to announce that GDN is moving to 100% viewable,” said GDN vice president Brad Bender. “We’re going to migrate all of the CPMs in the system to viewable CPMs.

“All advertisers will be able to see viewable metrics so they can make better decisions.”

Talking about ad blockers, Bender said they were “an important part of the ecosystem”.

“The problem with ad blockers is they are blocking the good ads and the bad ads. We think it’s important that publishers continue to be funded,” he added.