Google Will Help Publishers Prepare for a Chrome Ad Blocker Coming Next Year

Google Will Help Publishers Prepare for a Chrome Ad Blocker Coming Next Year

Internet giant describes tool as a ‘filter’ for ads that are bothersome to web users
Google has told publishers it will give them at least six months to prepare for a new ad-blocking tool.

By Jack Marshall June 1, 2017 3:10 p.m. ET

Google has told publishers it will give them at least six months to prepare for a new ad-blocking tool the company is planning to introduce in its Chrome web browser next year, according to people familiar with the company’s plans.

The new setting, which is expected to be switched on by default within the desktop and mobile versions of Chrome, will prevent all ads from appearing on websites that are deemed to provide a bad advertising experience for users.

To help publishers prepare, Google will provide a self-service tool called “Ad Experience Reports,” which will alert them to offending ads on their sites and explain how to fix the issues. The tool will be provided before the Chrome ad blocker goes live, the people familiar with the plans say.

The company hasn’t yet announced or acknowledged its plans, but has briefed publishers, agencies and advertisers about its intentions in recent weeks. It is possible Google’s plans or release timing could change.

Unacceptable ad types include those identified by the Coalition for Better Ads, an industry group made up of various trade bodies and online advertising-related companies that says it aims to improve consumers’ experience with online advertising.

The group’s initial list of unacceptable ad types, released in March, included pop-ups, auto-playing video ads with sound and “prestitial” ads that count down before displaying content. Google is a member of the group, alongside fellow ad giant Facebook, and Wall Street Journal parent News Corp .

As described to publishers, Google’s feature will block all ads on sites that have a certain level of unacceptable ads. Publishers have been advised to ensure their sites are compliant if they want their ads to be displayed.

While blocking pesky ads is appealing to consumers, it also threatens a vital source of revenue for publishers. Some media companies are wary of Google’s tool impacting which of their ads make it through to users. Still, other publishers would actually welcome Google’s entry into ad blocking if it can help filter out the spammy, irritating ads they believe have driven users to attempt to avoid or block all online ads.

Google is describing the new feature as an advertising “filter” as opposed to a “blocker,” and compares it to existing features in Chrome designed to block pop-up windows and to offer users warnings before they visit pages with harmful software known as malware.

The ad-blocking step might seem counterintuitive given Google’s reliance on online advertising revenue, which accounted for 88% of Google-parent Alphabet Inc.’s more than $90 billion in revenue last year.

The move could be a defensive one. Consumers who are frustrated with internet ads that clog up pages and slow down browsing have been turning to ad blockers in recent years. Some 26% of U.S. web users now employ the software on their desktop devices, according to the Interactive Advertising Bureau.

By making its own tool available by default in Chrome, Google may be hoping to quell further growth of blocking tools offered by other companies, and therefore have more control over which ads get blocked online, people familiar with the company’s plans said.

Google’s Chrome dominates the internet browser market with nearly 60% share across mobile and desktop devices, according to internet statistics provider NetMarketShare.

In addition to the ad blocking tool, Google is also pitching publishers on a new tool it is calling “Funding Choices,” which is designed to combat the effects of ad blockers offered by other companies. If publishers enabled that feature on their sites, users with ad blockers turned on would be presented with messaging prompting them to disable their blockers to access the content, or to pay for a “pass” to remove advertising entirely.

It is unclear if passes will be offered for individual sites, or for a bundle of sites that opt-in to the program. People familiar with the program described it as an updated version of an earlier product called Google “Contributor.”


https://www.wsj.com/articles/google-will-help-publishers-prepare-for-a-chrome-ad-blocker-coming-next-year-1496344237

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

BMW traps alleged thief by remotely locking him in car

BMW traps alleged thief by remotely locking him in car Stealer's Wheel? Seattle police department quotes "Watchmen" movie in a recap of the recent arrest. Tech Culture by Gael Fashingbauer Cooper December 4, 2016 5:00 PM PST It's maybe the most satisfying arrest we can imagine. Seattle police caught an alleged car thief by enlisting the help of car maker BMW to both track and then remotely lock the luckless criminal in the very car he was trying to steal. Jonah Spangenthal-Lee, deputy director of communications for the Seattle Police Department, posted a witty summary of the event on the SPD's blog on Wednesday. Turns out if you're inside a stolen car, it's perhaps not the best time to take a nap. "A car thief awoke from a sound slumber Sunday morning (Nov. 27) to find he had been remotely locked inside a stolen BMW, just as Seattle police officers were bearing down on him," Spangenthal-Lee wrote. The suspect found a ke...
Read more

Report: World’s 1st remote brain surgery via 5G network performed in China

World’s 1st remote brain surgery via 5G network performed in China Published time: 17 Mar, 2019 13:12 ·           A Chinese surgeon has performed the world’s first remote brain surgery using 5G technology, with the patient 3,000km away from the operating doctor. Dr. Ling Zhipei remotely implanted a neurostimulator into his patient’s brain on Saturday, Chinese state-run media  reports . The surgeon manipulated the instruments in the Beijing-based PLAGH hospital from a clinic subsidiary on the southern Hainan island, located 3,000km away. The surgery is said to have lasted three hours and ended successfully. The patient, suffering from Parkinson’s disease, is said to be feeling well after the pioneering operation. The doctor used a computer connected to the next-generation 5G network developed by Chinese tech giant Huawei. The new device enabled a near real-time connection, according to Dr. Ling.  “You barely feel that th...
Read more

New ATM's: withdraw money with veins in your finger

New cash machines: withdraw money with veins in your finger Cash machine technology that reads the pattern of finger veins is already available in Japan and Poland   By Telegraph Reporters 6:59PM BST 15 May 2014 Cash machines could soon be installed with devices that identify customers by reading the veins in their fingers. The technology is already being rolled out in Poland, where 1,730 cash machines will this year be installed with readers, negating the need for a debit card and Pin. Developed by Hitachi, the Japanese electronics firm, the machines read the patterns of the veins just below the surface of the skin on your finger using infra-red sensors. The light is partially absorbed by haemoglobin in the veins to capture a unique finger vein pattern profile, which is matched to a profile. The technology is used by Japanese banks and also in Turkey, offering “groundbreaking levels of accuracy and speed of authentication”, Hitachi said, which in t...
Read more