Google is considering building an advertisement filtering feature into its Chrome web browser in an effort to give itself more control over the ever-growing ad-blocking situation.
Citing “people familiar with the company’s plans”, The Wall Street Journal says a built-in ad blocker for both the mobile and desktop versions of Chrome is in the works, although nothing has been confirmed and the idea could still be scrapped.
The on-by-default feature is being designed to block the most the most intrusive ads from being displayed and filter out those which are deemed to provide a bad user experience.
If Google does go ahead with the plans, the definition of unacceptable ads will be based on guidelines provided by industry group the Coalition for Better Ads, which recently released a set of standards for companies to adhere to.
According to its rules, pop-up ads, prestitial ads, ads with density greater than 30 percent, flashing animated ads, auto-play video ads with sound, poststitial ads with countdown, full-screen scrollover ads, and large sticky ads all “fell beneath a threshold of consumer acceptability”.
Alphabet-owned Google is also considering blocking all ads that appear on sites with any offending ads. So, rather than just blocking the specific offending ads, it will block everything on the site, giving owners a greater incentive to ensure all their ads meet the required standards.
Although the move may seem counter-intuitive for a company that is so heavily dependent on revenues generated from online ads, Google will hope that having its own feature will minimise the growth of third-party ad-blocking tools.
A recent study found that 22 percent of British adults are now using some form of ad-blocking software, with the likes of Adblock Plus dominating the market despite facing a series of court challenges.
Last year Facebook announced plans to override ad blockers, demonstrating the growing impact that such software is having in a world where online advertising is the lifeblood for many businesses.
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