Google Chrome is finally getting the much-needed and highly requested ad blocker. Chrome will natively block pesky ads, rendering third-party ad blockers unnecessary.
Google is enabling the ad blocker on Feb. 15. The built-in ad filtering feature will cover up some of the internet's most annoying and intrusive ads, and ultimately convince publishers to get rid of them.
There are a few caveats, however. Google Chrome will not blot out all ads, just the ones that are in violation of the standards laid out by the Coalition for Better Ads. Here's what's out: full-page ads, ads with autoplay audio and video content, and flashing ads. Chrome will immediately get rid of the aforementioned ads upon detection.
Here's how the built-in ad blocker works.
For desktop users, Google will block pop-up ads, large sticky ads, autoplay ads, and web pages that forcefully block content with a countdown timer. Things are more interesting on the mobile front. Pop-up ads, ads that load up before the main content loads, autoplay ads, huge sticky ads, flashing animated ads, fullscreen scroll-over ads, and ads that take up more than 30 percent of a given webpage will all be blocked.
"It's clear that annoying ads degrade what we all love about the web," said Google in a blog post.
Why Is Google Doing This?
The search company also explained why it's implementing such a drastic change, considering that advertising is one of Google's biggest cash cows.
"The web is an ecosystem composed of consumers, content producers, hosting providers, advertisers, web designers, and many others. It's important that we work to maintain a balance — and if left unchecked, disruptive ads have the potential to derail the entire system."
Google Chrome Ad Blocker
Users will know when ads are blocked on a webpage when they see a small pop-up in Chrome that gives them the option to allows ads on that particular site. There's a huge chance that users will see a boost in performance with ad blocking on. Ads are pesky little performance hogs that drag down a system. However, Google says the boost is merely a bonus on top of the main goal.
The drastic set of changes will challenge publishers and content creators to employ a better way of displaying ads on their sites. According to Ryan Schoen, Google's product manager for the Chrome Web Platform, 42 percent of publishers with pesky ads have already moved to other ads. This means that a lot of websites are yet to comply with Google's new guidelines, but Schoen thinks they'll most likely do so once they see the effects of the upcoming changes.
