As Google’s Chrome browser supports extensions, this has led to the creation of a variety of different ad blocking extensions and services. However those extensions may soon no longer be necessary because according to a report from The Wall Street Journal, it seems that Google could be building an ad blocker directly inside Chrome itself.
According to the report, the ad blocker will be enabled by default and it will block and filter ads that are deemed to provide bad experiences to users. While this sounds like good news, we should remind you guys that Google is part of AdBlock Plus’ “Acceptable Ads” program, meaning that Google pays to have its ads whitelisted by the ad blocker. What this means for Chrome’s rumored built-in ad blocker is that it will just be selective about what ads can or cannot be displayed, and that it won’t be completely blocking ads like current ad blockers.
Instead it is expected to block ads deemed unacceptable by the standards set by the Coalition for Better Ads, which includes formats such as pop-ups, videos that play automatically, or ads with countdown timers. Basically annoying and intrusive ads will be blocked, so if you believe that websites (such as ours) have the right to earn money through ads as long as they’re not annoying, then this rumored feature could come in handy.
The report claims that Google could announce the feature within weeks, and given that Google I/O 2017 takes place in May, we wouldn’t be surprised if the feature were to be announced then.