Here is some quite shocking news from Google: the company plans on adding an ad-blocking feature to its popular Chrome web browser. Many people already use an ad-blocker, but it is really surprising that the tech giant will actually provide the feature for its browser. This coming from one of the biggest web advertising companies is truly a shocker. Of course, the built-in ad-blocker won’t block Google ads. That would mean giving up their income and it would be foolish. Instead, the tech giant will block so-called “unacceptable ads”. Sources familiar with the company’s plans added that these ad types are the ones that provide bad experiences for users.
Thankfully, “unacceptable ads” has a definition. A list containing the types of ads that aren’t acceptable was issued back in march by the Coalition for Better Ads. According to that list, pop-ups, auto-playing video ads with sound, and “prestitial” ads with countdown timers are upsetting for users. Google could block individual ads or even sites that contain unacceptable advertising. It remains to be seen which path Google will choose to take. It is also possible that the tech giant won’t proceed with its ad-blocking plans. If it will, however, the company could announce the new ad-blocking feature sometime within the next couple of weeks.
Even though this measure could seem to be counter-productive for Google, it actually isn’t. By adding its own ad-blocker to the Chrome browser, the tech giant will also stop third-party ad-blockers from rising. By installing the new feature, Google could have advertisers pay for letting their ads pass through the filter. Of course, only acceptable ads could do this. If unacceptable ads would disappear, people would not purchase ad-blockers anymore and certain businesses, such as online publishers could carry on their activity which mainly relies on advertising revenue.
Google did not make an official statement regarding the ad-blocking feature yet. This means that the company could halt the plan, or maybe it only works on delivering the best ad-blocker available. We’ll have to wait and see whether the new feature will pop up on our desktops and mobile devices in the near future.
Source: The Wall Street Journal
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