Google won’t be building an ad-blocker into their Chrome browser, which might sound crazy to some given that other browsers are already doing so, but Microsoft and Mozilla didn’t build their business on delivering ads in the same way that Google has done for many years. Google raked in $15 billion in ads in Q1 2015, and they claim they would lose billions in ad revenue with ad blocking features built-in.
That doesn’t mean you can’t use one obviously. I use one myself, but pretty much keep all my common websites white listed and only lock down a page if I feel the ads are becoming intrusive or generally get in the way of my day-to-day work.
“like there are a lot of challenges in advertising. There are a lot of wrong ways. If publishers and advertisers do ads the right way, it can be great for the users and for the ecosystem.” said VR of Chrome Engineering Darin Fisher to CNET.
Instead of blocking ads, Google is looking at ways of improving them. On one hand, they don’t want users to have a bad experience where they feel they have to block ads, but they also need to deliver as many as possible to turn a profit. It’s a fine line to walk, but with the Coalition for Better Ads, and their AMP project (Accelerated Mobile Pages), it’s nice to see they’re doing something to improve the ecosystem as a whole.
