Chrome-blocked ads?

Mountain View. © iStock / Getty.

Google is gearing up to implement an ad-blocking feature in its Chrome browser, which corners nearly half of the browser market. Of course, it would not block out all ads, and especially not Google’s Adwords ads. In fact, the only ads that would be blocked are the ones deemed by Google as offering a “bad” user experience. Google is presumably basing its definition of “bad” on that of the Coalition for Better Ads, of which Google is a member. Observers believe that this is a defensive move by Google to quell the uptake of across-the-board ad blockers by users frustrated with intrusive ads, including Adwords ads. After all, Google derives the lion’s share of its income from ads.

⇨ The Wall Street Journal, “Google plans ad-blocking feature in popular Chrome browser.”