An ad blocker may what many people have been waiting for all these years. Good news as Google has announced it is launching the Chrome ad blocker in 2018. Google warns publishers to brace themselves.
Works as filter
Google is launching early in 2018 the ad blocker on Chrome web browser. This does not block all ads in entirety but works as a filter for ads that do not meet Google's guidelines. Google's senior vice president of Ads and Commerce writes in a blog post that the blocker encompasses all ads, even those "owned or served by Google" as long as they do not meet the standards of Chrome. This applies on both desktop and mobile platforms.
Alongside the much-awaited announcement is the caveat for publishers to evaluate their websites and ads. The search engine giant also asked the concerned to take down any disruptions from their platforms as soon as possible. The ad blocker targets pages that have intrusive ads and videos that automatically play in particular.
Coalition for Better Ads
According to Google, the company will provide the publishers an instrument that can assess their site ad's validity. Behind this tool is the Coalition for Better Ads, a group composed of Facebook, The Washington Post, News Corp, and Google itself.
With an ad blocker, it will help web browsing experience become smoother. While the ad blocker seems to be a huge leap in the promotion of clean and neat web pages, critics fear the possible manoeuvring of the said technology. "It gives Google immense power over what the web looks like, partly in the name of protecting its own revenue", reports The Verge.
Google generates 89 percent of its income from ads. With the presence of the blocker, it places full control of the ads on Google. Although there is a governing body to oversee this whole operation, it remains uncertain if Google will remain grounded with power and dominance over it.
