Google's new built in Chrome ad blocker is here. So, is it fair?
It was announced last year that this was coming. Well, I say announced, it was actually more of a whisper. For those who didn’t hear it blowing in the breeze it’s this. From 15 February Google will automatically block desktop and mobile advertising that they consider to be intrusive to the user. This includes auto-play videos with sound, full-page ads and pop-ups. This new rule was developed from the Coalition for Better Ads came into effect on 15 February. This latest rule follows the Intrusive Mobile Interstitial penalty which Google announced last year.
So, what does it mean and is it fair?
Google is basing its decisions on ads to block depending on whether or not ads “fall beneath a threshold of consumer acceptability.” It appears that Google came up with the coalition for better ads and performed most of its research.
In a blog post, Chrome Vice President Rahul Roy-Chowdhury wrote
“To us, your experience on the web is a higher priority than the money that these annoying ads may generate—even for us.”
What’s interesting though is that some sites affected by this change could also contain Google ads. However, other coalition members said the blacklisted ad formats “generally don’t apply to Google’s own business.”
If Google wants to avoid adding to the mistrust many already have of the company, they’d better hope that they don’t unfairly benefit from this latest ad blocking measure.