Google introduces its own ad blocker to Chrome: here how it will work
Google has begun blocking obtrusive adverts by default in its Chrome browser leaving the tech giant, which makes most of its revenue from advertising, in control of the kind of ads users can see.
Starting on 15 February, Google will use a default ad blocker in its Chrome browser aimed at stopping adverts and pop-ups which make for a slow user experience.
Flashing animated banner ads and autoplaying video adverts with sound are set to be targetted, while Google will contact websites that breach the advertising guidelines and, ultimately, block their advertising if they fail to make changes after 30 days.
The move stems from the Coalition for Better Ads (CBA), whose members include major marketers, Google, Facebook and major news publishers. The move was first suggested in April last year, but Google has now moved to implement its ad-blocking technology.
"We’ve already seen more and more people express their discontent with annoying ads by installing ad blockers,", said Google's vice president of Chrome Rahul Roy-Chowdhury, "but blocking all ads can hurt sites or advertisers who aren’t doing anything disruptive."
How Google's ad-blocker will work
Google's ad-blocker will not be the blanket advertising stopper that many third-party ad blockers provide. Instead it will stop certain types of particularly disruptive adverts and let normal ads through. Given that advertising provides almost all of Google's revenue, around 87 percent of it, it was never going to stop all adverts.
Google's ad blocker will stop several types of ads and flag up websites that use adverts in certain ways. It works differently to most other ad-blockers.
- Intrusive ads blocked: The worst offending ads will be blocked outright. These include "presital ads", which popup before you have even accessed the website and are used by some publishers, and flashing animated adverts.
- Autoplay adverts: Videos which automatically play adverts with sound will be blocked under Google's new ad blocker.
- Adverts with screen density of 30pc: Adverts which cover more than a third of the screen on mobile devices will be blocked by the ad-blocker.
- Allow ads pop-up: Chrome will provide a small pop-up window when user's access a site when all the adverts have been blocked, giving them the option to allow adverts.
Google says 42 per cent of sites contacted by it about intrusive advertising had taken action to remove them. Google Chrome engineering manager Chris Bentzel said: "This is the outcome we are were hoping for — that sites would take steps to fix intrusive ads experiences themselves and benefit all web users."
Why is Google blocking adverts?
There has been an ongoing war between ad blockers and advertising providers. One report from the Interactive Advertising Bureau suggested as many as 26 per cent of desktop users and 15 per cent of mobile users had some form of ad blocker, Ad Week reported.
Ad-blocking is a drain on revenues, both for Google and for publishers who rely on display adverts. By implementing its own ad blocker as more of a quality filter, Google hopes fewer people will turn to blanket ad-blocking apps.
However, the implementation of the service and the Coalition for Better Ads has come under scrutiny. Google and Facebook are considered to be the duopoly of online advertisers, controlling the online advertising space.
The CBA's framework on advertising has been dominated by Google, the Wall Street Journal reports. Companies paid $100,000 to get a seat on the CBA's board, while Google conducted the majority of the board's research. Facebook, one of the members, will also not be subject to the ban on autoplay video adverts.
The way the adblocker works could also come under scrutiny from EU regulators, such as the competition commission, if it unfairly impacts some advertisers.
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