When Ad Blockers first appeared, there was a worry that advertisers and internet users
might get into an arms race, where each is trying to get one step ahead of the other.
Thankfully that hasn’t happened and google’s recent announcement, that they will be automatically
filtering out certain types of ads through Chrome, shows that common sense is prevailing.
Today we’re going to look at the roll out of the new inbuilt Google Chrome adblocker
and see how it’s not just good for users, it’s good for advertisers too.
Chrome is the world’s default browser.
It’s used on over 60% of desktops, 58% of tablets and just over 50% of mobile.
So, Chrome represent the typical internet experience.
Earlier this month, Google began a new system for its Chrome browser, that would filter
out so-called “annoying” ads.
This isn’t about content, it’s about the way the ads interrupt your online experience.
Mostly, this is videos that autoplay with sound and pop-ups that open fullscreen.
They are also targeting pages where ads make up over 30% of the content.
The Coalition for Better Ads was announced back in late 2016, with members including
tech giants like Google, Microsoft and Facebook.
Then there’s the advertising groups like the World Federation of Advertisers, media
companies such as The Washington Post and Thompson Reuters, and some big product brands
like Unilever and Proctor & Gamble.
If too many terrible ads existed, then every user would be forced to use ad block software.
This would mean the brands and advertisers would have lost the battle, all because of
some bad actors.
They knew they needed to act, to protect themselves but also to protect users too.
The thing we users don’t like to admit, is that we need advertising.
In fact, the whole ecosystem of the internet doesn’t work without it.
I’m not saying it couldn’t, but the system we have now would have to completely change.
You’d need to pay for every single service; from Google search to Facebook to Snapchat.
You might not do it as a monthly fee but it would be some other cost like in your phone
bill or added to the cost of a cellphone or laptop since they’d come pre-installed.
It’s not just the internet either, the basic idea of advertising is vital to everyone in
the modern world.
Even if we forget about how TV and movies are supported by ads, advertising is how you
learn about what options are available to you and how there are solutions out there
to problems that you have.
Otherwise you’re just relying on what your friends and family recommend.
Of course some ads are annoying or go to far, but many of the things you own, that you like,
are because of advertising; your favourite sneakers, shampoo, soft drink.
So, this new Chrome update is limiting the bad actors in the advertising world.
And let’s be honest, most of the annoying ad formats aren’t used by big brands, it’s
pop ups for suspicious supplements or useless e-books, that type of thing.
By getting rid of them, users get a better experience but they get more ads that are
useful to them.
Advertiser waste money if they spam everyone but the internet allows you to be incredibly
well targeted, using demographics, interests, location, search data.
So, ad filtering and ad blocking are not anti-advertising, they are helping the good advertisers spend
their money where it will actually count.
However, one big concern is that Google are the gatekeepers.
They are enforcing these rules and no one is telling them what ads they can and can’t
have as part of their search system.
We are placing a lot of trust in one company to enforce the spirit of the Coalition For
Better Ads, and it’s still not clear how they are going to handle the appeals process
when sites think they have been unfairly filtered.
This will all seem familiar to people who’ve been following Google’s attempts to deal
with advertising on Youtube over the last few months.
You’re never going to have a completely fair systems so some small players are going
to be badly affected by this, and they may never get an answer back about why they have been penalised.