Versions of Google Chrome in the future could see the browser make the inclusion of a built-in adblocker, working to prevent intrusive online adverts from being shown on users' computers and smartphones. The announcement of this feature could possibly be coming within weeks but at the same, it could be scrapped entirely. The definition of unacceptable adverts that the company would adhere to would be outsourced to the Coalition for Better Ads which is an independent group established by a consortium of major advertisers and agencies.On desktop, the coalition bans 'pop-up ads, auto-play video ads with sound, prestitial ads with countdown and large sticky ads.' On the mobile front though, they ban 'pop-up ads, prestitial ads, ads with density greater than 30% flashing animated ads, auto-play video ads with sound, postitial ads with countdown, full-screen scrollover ads, and large sticky ads.' It remains unknown though, whether or not the company will choose to block all advertising on sites with 'offending ads' or just block the offending ads themselves, with the former of course making publishers ensure their ads comply with the Coalition's standards. And while adblocking may seem like a silly move for Google to take considering the lionshare of its revenue comes from advertising, the feature could help avoid users using more aggressive (third-party) adblockers. Eyeo would be an example of this which charges large companies such as Google and Amazon a portion of their revenue to be on the Acceptable Ads list. Google unlike its largest competitor, Facebook, have the majority of their ad revenue come from users on the open web where adblockers go essentially 'unhindered' in the content they can filter out from a user. The addition of this feature could have ramifications for Google's current struggles with EU regulators, evident with how the European Commissioner for Competition, Marrethe Vestager stated: 'We will follow this new feature and its effects closely.'
- Blocking ads may seem like a counterintuitive move for Google, which makes 86% of its revenue from advertising
This article displays Google's possible newfound inclination to develop an adblocking capability to its site. Through working with the Coalition for Better Ads, the company could potentially eliminate what's been a huge problem for it for years. As they could make the move to do this though, they could be destroying what is the purpose of the third-party adblockers today. We see this as being quite a worry as shown with Margrethe Vestager's comment regarding how the feature will be followed to ensure competition is still present within the market.
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