Google's Chrome browser will automatically block certain ads starting next year.
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Google is about to start blocking annoying ads so you don't have to (GOOGL)
Google's Chrome browser will automatically block some ads starting next year. The company believes this will help the entire digital ad industry.
The new feature will filter out ads that have been deemed "unacceptable" by the Coalition for Better Ads, an industry coalition whose listed membership includes the Interactive Advertising Bureau, the digital ad world's leading trade group.
News of this Chrome feature was first reported by the Wall Street Journal.
What are unacceptable ads? The coalition has identified four types of desktop ads and eight types of mobile ads that are particularly irksome to consumers, such as video ads that play automatically with sound, interstitial ads that take over a person's screen and countdown until they disappear, as well as flashing, animated mobile ads.
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With this move to stamp out such ads, Google says it wants to clean up the web, which is a win for consumers and publishers who are trying to do the right thing.
Google's own sites will largely be unaffected by these new tools, but it's possible that other publishers that Google sells ads for as part of the "Google Display Network" will have to eliminate some of their ad inventory, said Scott Spencer, direct of product management at Google.
Of course, given Google's massive clout in the industry, many will see this move as heavy handed or self serving for the search giant. But Spencer argued that in this case, what's good for the broader digital media industry is good for Google.
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