Published on December 10, 2018
Google has revealed that the new version of its Chrome browser that will block all the ads on websites that contain ‘abusive’ ads. The new version of Chrome is 71, and it is scheduled to be released sometime in December 2018.
Abusive ads are a problem that Google has attempted to tackle in the past via Chrome. In Chrome 68 that was released in July, websites were blocked from opening new tabs or windows if they were reported for abusing the capability.
In Chrome 71 Google has decided to take an even stricter approach, and websites will have all advertisements blocked completely if abusive ads persist. After an abusive experience is reported, websites will have a 30-day grace period to remove the abusive ad and clean up their website. Failure to do that will result in all ads being blocked, including those that aren’t classed as abusive.
Users will have the option to turn off Google’s filtering, but the majority will probably leave it on. It represents a huge incentive for website-owners to take proactive measures and ensure they have no ads that could potentially be classified as abusive, as they stand to lose a significant source of revenue should all of their ads end up being blocked.
Abusive ads are not a new issue, but it is one that is being put increasingly under the spotlight as online advertising in general continues to expand. As Google has noted their own efforts in the past to combat abusive ads have been less than successful, and over half of the offensive content still ends up leaking through.
The class of abusive ads that Google appears to be targeting are specifically those that mislead users in various ways such as by generating fake system messages, performing automated redirects, or attempting to steal personal information.
According to Vivek Sekhar, Google’s Product Manager, “With Chrome, users are always in control and can disable abusive sites filtering by going to their Chrome Settings. Stronger protections ensure users can interact with their intended content on the web, without abusive experiences getting in the way.”
Although a positive step, users should not mistake Chrome 71’s initiative as a step towards completely blocking ads or integrating ad blocking into Chrome. As long as Google’s revenue remains predominantly based on ads, its stance is unlikely to change in that regard. It has shown no qualms about cracking down on abusive ads, but is in favor of legitimate advertising as a source of revenue.
Instead if users do want to block ads completely they will have to rely on third-party software. If the basic browser extensions don’t suffice there are more comprehensive solutions and for example it is possible to learn how to block pop-up ads with AdGuard along with any other types of ads.
While it is impossible to project how effective the new protections will be until Chrome 71 is released, the news alone is likely to make some website-owners reevaluate their ads. It won’t be until after the first month of Chrome 71 being released that the actual impact of its block can be fully assessed.
That is when the 30-day grace period for the first batch of websites with abusive ads will expire, and it should provide a clearer indication of just how many websites are affected.