Advertising is all around us. On TV, on the radio, in the magazines that we read and on the web pages that we view. It is an easy way to get a message in front of people but it is being done so much that most people just tune them out. Whether that is done by changing the channel when there is a break or turning the page in the magazine people are just not interested in hearing advertisements. The same can be said on the Internet and for years users have used programs like ad blockers to filter out those annoying pop-up ads.
Google Chrome has taken this to the next level by blocking online ads. It may not be all ads but the most annoying will be a good start. This is a major deal since not only does Google make a lot of revenue off of online ads but their browser is also the top browser in use today. Google has vowed to remove their own ads as well and other that do not meet their own standards.
This move is a radical change from a statement in 2017 that said they would not include an ad blocker with Chrome. Now they are not the first browser to block ads, that honor belongs to Opera, but with the market share of Chrome it is easy to see why this is a big deal.
There are more reasons than just the ads themselves to explain why people do not like them. Some now play video and sound and start when a mouse cursor moves overtop of them breaking a person’s concentration and using up bandwidth. Many ads also have small bits of code that allow advertisers to see what you view and to customize ads to you. Many view this as an invasion of their privacy and at the very least it slows down how long a page takes to load and uses more data. This last part will not be blocked by Chrome’s ad blocker.
This could work out beautifully for Google. They already have the world’s most popular web browser and stand to gain even more market share when this is implemented. Advertisers will have to meet certain standards to have their content included which could make the Internet much safer for children. That also means that Google can conceivably choose what ads meet their standards and which ones don’t and with censorship challenges going on with Google’s own YouTube as well as various social media platforms, this could give one company unfettered power. They will control the message and what people see, very Orwellian.