Google’s Chrome browser will start blocking ads come February

Wednesday, 27 December 2017 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com): Google is getting ready to bring ad blocking to its Chrome browser: The company will start blocking ads from sites that use intrusive advertising experiences starting February 15, it announced Tuesday.

Ad blocking will come to both Google’s desktop and mobile browsers. The announcement was first spotted by Venturebeat.

Google first announced its plans for ad blocking in June. At the time, the company said that it planned to filter out annoying ad formats, including video ads that automatically play with sound turned on, pop-up ads and mobile ads that cover more than 30 percent of your phone’s screen.

On Tuesday, Google clarified that it may also block ads that don’t fit those patterns if they happen to be displayed on a site that regularly uses intrusive advertising. That’s because Google will regularly track whether a site’s ads violate the standards of the Coalition for Better Ads, a trade group that counts tech companies like Google and Facebook, but also media companies like News Corp. and the Washington Post among its members.

Sites that are repeatedly in violation of these standards over 30 days will find themselves in the penalty box, and get all of their ads blocked until they have cleaned up their act. To track violations, and help sites turn advertising in Chrome on again, Google has launched an ad experience report tool.

Critics have argued that Google is instituting ad blocking in Chrome to further drive publishers to use the company’s own advertising products. Google on the other hand has been arguing that blocking only annoying ads will help publishers as well, as it prevents users from installing ad blockers that indiscriminately filter out all advertising.