Google has alerted publishers, agencies, and advertisers of its plans to roll out a built-in ad-blocker in the desktop and mobile versions of Chrome browser and gave them six months to check whether or not their advertisements will be affected by the feature. According to a report from the Wall Street Journal, Google has briefed advertisers and publishers on what types of advertisements should be avoided so that revenue streams of publishers and content creators will not be significantly affected by the change. Advertisements that Google plans to block reportedly include pop-up ads, auto-playing videos with sounds, and promos that employ countdowns before showing the site’s actual content. The said advertisements are considered as bad ads under the guidelines set by the Coalition for Better Ads. To help publishers and marketers adjust to the new guidelines, Google has given publishers a self-help tool called “Ad Experience Reports” to remove problematic advertisements from their websites.
Recent reports also indicate that Google is warning publishers and content creators of possible punishments if they continue to show bad ads to consumers. The Alphabet-owned company allegedly told publishers that it will block all ads in websites that have reached a certain level of bad ads. Nonetheless, affected stakeholders are divided over Google’s move. Some publishers and content creators fear that this move by the search giant will negatively affect their bottom line since advertising is a crucial component of their revenues. Meanwhile, other stakeholders welcome this move by Google since it could result in a smaller number of content consumers that will totally block all advertisements. Aside from the publishers and advertisers, the European Union has also raised concerns over the nature and implementation of the ad-block feature and has since vowed to closely monitor Google’s actions related to this endeavor.
The rollout of a Chrome ad-blocker caught some industry watchers by surprise, given that the search giant’s main business is advertising. However, later reports provided more details on this reported feature, with insiders claiming that Google’s ad-blocker is actually an ad filter that removes advertisements that negatively affect the content consumption experience. The search giant hopes that the addition of a built-in ad-blocker will reduce the need for third party ad-blockers that completely remove all promotional materials from websites.