Google will launch an ad blocker on Chrome next year and has communicated this to publishers. Google’s new ad blocker will filter ads with excessive invasive advertisements such as video that plays automatically or any ad that takes up the whole screen.
Google aims to gain control over ad blockers
In 2016, the search giant joined the Coalition for Better Ads, and it will use the group’s Better Ads Standards to filter best advertising practices.
In a blog post, Sridhar Ramaswamy, the executive in-charge of Google’s ads, said, “We plan to have Chrome stop showing ads (including those owned or served by Google) on websites that are not compliant with the Better Ads standards starting in early 2018.”
Google has been working on this feature since April, but it has now decided to integrate it into the browser, mainly to control ad blocking technology. Currently, third parties handle ad blocking tech, and in some cases, Alphabet company itself pays to them to whitelist its advertising content.
Although Google deviated from its position last year when it said it would not include an ad blocker in Chrome, it is not as severe as other ad blocking technologies on CNET. Usage of ad blockers has been on the rise. Usage of such software increased 30% year over year to 615 million devices worldwide in 2016, according to PageFair, a startup that offers anti-ad blocking services to ban customers who use ad blockers.
To make sure that publishers do not lose revenue suddenly, Google also published an Ad Experience report to help website owners comply with the standards. The company also offers examples with screenshots and videos showing intruding ads which could be blocked if not taken care of by publishers.
Publishers to charge users utilizing ad blockers
Google is also said to be offering “Funding Choices,” which allow publishers to charge readers using ad blocker services, in an effort to refine the quality of advertisements and control the surge of ad blockers. Using the feature, publishers will be able to show messages that ask visitors to disable their third-party ad blockers.
Publishers will also be able to set prices based on per-page views by the customer using ad blockers to get them either to pay or to stop using their blockers and continue seeing ads. For fee purposes, the company has created contributor services to track the number of pages that people view and charge them.
As of now, the Funding Choices feature is available in Germany, Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and North America. According to Ramaswamy, the feature will be launched in other countries toward the end of this year.
Ramaswamy says that funding choices is a “really nifty” feature that will let customers pay for content easily.
“It allows the publisher to have a dialogue with consumers. The consumer is able to say on this particular site I’m willing to pay for an ad-free experience,” the executive said.
