Google Creating Ad Blocker for its Chrome Browser: Report

Google is hard at work on the addition of an ad-blocking feature to its Chrome browser, according to a report from the Wall Street Journal.

Both the mobile and Web versions of Chrome will be impacted. Sources “familiar with the company’s plans” indicated the new software would be used to block advertisements if Google determines they negatively effect a user’s online experience.

The new ad-blocking tool, which could be announced within the next few weeks, is likely to be turned on by default in the latest version of Chrome.

“In one possible application Google is considering, it may choose to block all advertising that appears on sites with offending ads, instead of the individual offending ads themselves,” the WSJ report indicated. That means publishers would be forced to revamp all of their ads or risk having their advertising across all sites blocked on the Chrome browser.

Google, which has declined to comment on the rumors, is still ironing out specific details and may yet decide not to go ahead with the implementation of the ad blocking tools, the sources told the WSJ.

If the changes are implemented, however, any ads that appear on the Coalition for Better Ads’ list of poor ad experiences will be targeted. The list, released in March, condemned four types of desktop ads: pop-ups, auto-playing video ads with sound, prestitial ads with countdown timers and large sticky ads.

The eight types of mobile ads the Coalition listed as no-nos are: pop-ups, prestitial ads, ad density higher than 30 percent, flashing animated ads, auto-playing video ads with sound, postitial ads with countdown, full-screen scroll-over ads and large sticky ads.

The list “identifies the ad experiences that rank lowest across a range of user experience factors, and that are most highly correlated with an increased propensity for consumers to adopt ad blockers,” the Coalition said, adding that its research “was designed to identify the least preferred ad types.”

If Google does decide to implement its ad blocking tools, the impact could be significant. As of March, 45 percent of U.S. Internet users utilized the Chrome browser. In Canada and the U.K., user levels sat at 43 percent while Australia comes in at 42.75 percent. Worldwide adoption was 52.8 percent.

Jennifer Cowan is the Managing Editor for SiteProNews.

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