Just using the Safari browser in iOS 26 almost all of the screens that are appearing when I use the browser are coming up with Google ads in the middle of the screen that seem impossible to get rid of. If this continues I’ll have to use a different browser. I have block pop-ups on makes no difference.
iPhone 14 Pro
I found the problem!!!!
Reduce motion settings is the culprit.
Source: I have a 16 Pro for Personal and a 15 for work. 15 was not experiencing it 16 Pro was. Reset my 16 Pro using a backup didn't fix it but then I reset it to not restore from backup and it worked.
Then I turned on reduced motion on both iPhones and they both had it.
Yep. So I started to use DuckDuckGo as an alternate and discovered using Safari in Private mode also works at the moment. The fact is that as it has just suddenly appeared in Safari when it wasn't the case before seems to indicate a tie up of some sort between Apple and Google to allow it and this disappoints me. I think it's a privacy issue, I actively seek to avoid anything that is to do with Google where possible and won't use the base Safari browser any longer.
The same thing happens to me on my iphone. The only way I can get rid of them is using the hide distracting items feature but it's a pain to use that for every page. I now use the Brave browser except for my credit and bank sites. When Apple fixes this I will go back to Safari. (One credit card doesn't work with ios 26 so I am using Brave for that.)
iOS 26 is filling my Safari screen with Google ads how do I stop it?
