Help us prepare for our appointment
Google is expanding its Chrome User Experience Report (CrUX) with four new advertising metrics. The aim is to measure more accurately the actual advertising pressure experienced by internet users. For advertisers, this development could provide a new way of assessing the quality of display and programmatic inventory. However, these metrics are still experimental and Google has not, for the time being, set any benchmark thresholds.
Key takeaways:
In summary, CrUX advertising metrics introduce a new level of transparency regarding ad density on websites. Their main benefit will be to gradually align the quality of the environment, the user experience and media performance.
Since 15 September 2026, Chrome has added four experimental metrics to the Chrome User Experience Report. These aim to quantify an experience that has, until now, been difficult to compare objectively across different websites.
The first, Ad Count, measures the average number of adverts visible within the display window. Ad Density measures the average proportion of this window taken up by adverts.
Two further metrics assess the technical impact of adverts: ‘Ad Weight: Network’, which measures the network resources consumed, and ‘Ad Weight: CPU’, which measures the processor time used.
Chrome identifies advertising content using a number of mechanisms. In particular, the browser uses a condensed version of EasyList and analyses script execution. An element created by a script that has already been identified as advertising may also be classified as such.
To measure the number and density of adverts, Chrome samples the visible area once per second whilst you are browsing. CPU and network usage, however, are aggregated over the session.
CrUX then publishes the results at the 75th percentile. In other words, they aim to represent the experience of the vast majority of users, whilst minimising the impact of outlier sessions.
Until now, analysis of an advertising inventory has mainly focused on its cost, audience, visibility, context or performance.
CrUX advertising metrics raise another question: within which overall experience is the advert actually displayed?
Two technically visible impressions are not necessarily comparable. An advert displayed amongst many other formats may appear in a very different environment from an impression embedded in a less cluttered page.
Google presents this data precisely as signals that could help advertisers and adtech companies to better evaluate advertising space. Display & Video 360 publicly supports the initiative, but Google has not indicated whether this data is already being tested for inventory evaluation, auctions or reporting.
We must therefore distinguish between the data available today and its potential future uses.
For the time being, these metrics primarily serve to provide an additional layer of transparency.
The main benefit of CrUX is that it provides data based on real-world browsing conditions. Teams can view this data in CrUX Vis, via the CrUX and CrUX History APIs, or directly in Chrome’s developer tools.
Ultimately, this could enable media teams to compare advertising spend with campaign results.
One hypothesis that could be tested, for example, is: do environments displaying fewer adverts or using fewer resources yield better results in terms of attention or conversion?
The data currently available do not allow us to draw a general conclusion.
Google also emphasises that the system is experimental. Unlike Core Web Vitals, the CrUX advertising metrics do not have any ‘Good’, ‘Needs improvement’ or ‘Poor’ thresholds.
Another limitation is that the aggregated reports do not cover all websites. To include a domain in CrUX reporting, Google requires, amongst other things, an ads.txt file containing at least one authorised vendor.
It would therefore be premature to turn these four indicators into a universal measure of media quality.
The first step is to incorporate this data as analytical data, rather than as new performance KPIs.
CrUX Vis enables non-technical teams to track historical trends. The CrUX API provides data over a 28-day rolling window and can be integrated into internal monitoring tools.
For advertisers, there are three uses in particular that are worth testing:
The priority is therefore not to automatically exclude environments with a high density of advertising. We must first assess whether these characteristics are linked to any difference in brand performance.
CrUX advertising metrics should be regarded as supplementary indicators. Their value will depend on their ability to account for some of the discrepancies observed between different ad delivery environments.
An advertiser can start by identifying a set of domains that generate sufficient volume. They can then compare their CrUX data with their media metrics: viewability, attention where available, click-through rates, conversions or cost per acquisition.
The main point to bear in mind remains interpretation. Google does not provide any official quality thresholds. A higher ad density therefore does not automatically mean that an ad inventory performs less well.
The key metric to monitor remains business performance. CrUX can help explain the context in which this performance is achieved, but should not be seen as a substitute for it.
With CrUX advertising metrics, Google makes it possible to measure a further aspect of the advertising experience: the number of adverts, screen coverage and resource usage.
For advertisers, the priority now is to test whether these signals can explain differences in performance across different ad inventories. The first step can be straightforward: analyse the main serving domains in CrUX Vis before cross-referencing this data with media results.
Our Google Ads agency will help you analyse the quality of your ad inventory and make the most of Google’s new signals to manage your campaigns and their performance more effectively.
Google offers four experimental metrics: Ad Count, Ad Density, Ad Weight: CPU and Ad Weight: Network. These measure, respectively, the number of visible adverts, the screen space they occupy, and the CPU and network resources consumed by the advert whilst the user is browsing.
Chrome combines network request filtering with the analysis of JavaScript execution. The browser uses a condensed version of EasyList to identify certain advertising resources. It can also classify resources or frames created by scripts already identified as being related to advertising.
No. They use the CrUX infrastructure, but are not part of the Core Web Vitals. Google does not currently associate any thresholds with them to classify an experience as good, needing improvement or poor. The four metrics are still considered experimental.
The data is available via CrUX Vis, the CrUX API and the CrUX History API, amongst other channels. CrUX Vis allows for visual analysis without the need for specialist technical knowledge, whilst the APIs enable the metrics to be integrated into dashboards or automated monitoring systems.
No direct impact on prices has been established at this stage. Google presents this data as signals to help better understand and evaluate advertising experiences. Google has not specified whether DV360 is already using them for inventory evaluation, auctions or reporting.
