From 17 February 2027, Google AdSense will count an impression only when an ad has successfully loaded and begun rendering on a user's device, rather than at the moment it begins downloading. Ads that begin downloading but never render — because the user navigated away, connection speed was insufficient, or the page load failed — will no longer count as impressions. Google warns that publishers "may see a change in total impressions." The expected direction is down. The change aligns AdSense with how Google Ad Manager, and the rest of Google's inventory — native, app, and video — already count impressions, and standardises toward the viewability-as-default model that programmatic advertising has been moving toward for a decade. For display-heavy publishers relying on raw impression volume as a revenue driver, this changes monthly earnings calculations from Q1 2027. CPMs on remaining impressions may rise as inventory quality improves in measurable terms. Publishers have five months to adjust their yield expectations with ad operations teams.