TALI ARBEL
The Vancouver Sun
Websites that run annoying ads such as pop-ups may find all ads blocked by Google’s Chrome browser starting next year.
The digital-ad giant’s announcement comes as hundreds of millions of Internet users have already installed ad blockers on their desktop computers and phones to combat ads that track them and make browsing sites difficult.
These blockers threaten websites that rely on digital ads for revenue.
Google’s version will allow ads as long as websites follow industry-created guidelines and minimize certain types of ads that consumers really hate.
That includes pop-up ads, huge ads that don’t go away when visitors scroll down a page and video ads that start playing automatically with the sound on.
Google says the feature will be turned on by default, and users can turn it off. It’ll work on both the desktop and mobile versions of Chrome.
Google says that even ads it sells will be blocked on websites that don’t get rid of annoying types of ads.
But there might not be vast changes online triggered by the popular browser’s efforts. It’s a “small number of websites that are disproportionately responsible for annoying user experiences,” Google spokeswoman Suzanne Blackburn said.
“I’m sure there are some publishers who will get hurt,” said Brian Wieser, an ad analyst with Pivotal Research Group.
But in the long term, he says, cracking down on irritating ads should make the Internet experience better, encouraging people to visit sites and click on links. That, in turn, benefits Google.
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