This is how Google Chrome's new ad-blocker works

By Joe Maring
published

Last April, Google surprised a lot of us by announcing it was working on a built-in ad-blocker for Google Chrome.

We got an update a few months later in December saying that the ad-blocker would be released at some point in February of 2018, and now on February 15, the feature is ready for prime time.

As we already knew, Chrome's ad-blocker will filter and hide any advertisements it detects on websites that don't follow the Better Ads Standard. This standard was created by the Coalition for Better Ads, and the goal of it is to give companies a clear guideline of what ads are appropriate and which ones are deemed intrusive.

There are currently 12 types of ads that don't meet the Standard's requirements, including the likes of pop-up ads, auto-play videos, full-screen ads that follow you as you scroll on your phone, and more.

Chrome's ad-blocker will be available for both desktop and Android users, and folks on desktop will be alerted of blocked ads near the address bar similar to how you're alerted of blocked pop-ups. For those on Android, you'll see a notification at the bottom of your screen letting you know that advertisements have been blocked. You can dismiss this and keep browsing like normal, or you can expand the notification and choose to always allow ads from that specific site.

Commenting on the ad-blocker, Chrome's Vice President, Rahul Roy-Chowdhury, said:

We've already seen more and more people express their discontent with annoying ads by installing ad blockers, but blocking all ads can hurt sites or advertisers who aren't doing anything disruptive. By focusing on filtering out disruptive ad experiences, we can help keep the entire ecosystem of the web healthy, and give people a significantly better user experience than they have today.

Google says that 42% of all sites that didn't meet the Better Ads Standards have updated their use of advertisements to meet these requirements as of February 12, and the goal with Chrome's ad-blocker is to make that number go up even more. Websites are given 30 days to change their online ads after being notified of not meeting the Better Ads Standards, and if they fail to do anything after that time allotment, Chrome will start block ads.

Now that Chrome's ad-blocker is here, are you inclined to start using the browser if you aren't already?

Best Chrome extensions you didn't know about but should be using

Joe Maring
Joe Maring
18 Comments
  • a company that has primary business ads, put an adblocker (with their criteria) in their browser with the most market share... waiting for antitrust
  • There's no such thing as anti-trust laws in US anymore, at least for any company that's not named Microsoft...
  • The criteria was set by a coalition that included Microsoft. https://www.betterads.org
  • Edge for Android also needs an AdBlocker... or at least extension support to enable 3rd party AdBlockers to be installed.
  • i hope this works on the Windows Central website. Browsing on mobile is the very definition of frustration with its "fat" slow to load site and horrible intrusive adverts. I know they have to pay the bills, but the way the ads render is hideous.
  • Nice
  • I agree
  • The reason I don't use Chrome is not because it does not have an ad-blocker. Before Chrome having its own ad-blocker, there are countless other ad-blocker extensions one can use. So why would I start using it because it now has one whose block list is controlled by Google?
  • Well am i the only one that still sees pop-ups? i mean yea they get blocked sometimes but still there they are... i hope we get rid of them for good one day :'(
  • yeah but sites just detect the ad blocker and force you to disable it to view the site.  like this site does
  • This site allows you to enter with the ad blocker active. It let's me, using Opera, anyway. Most of the time I use the android app anyway, where the ads are not so trying.
  • Now that Google has made this step, Microsoft can do this for Edge.   If Microsoft would have implemented the ad blocking 'standards' before Google, Google and everyone else would have cried foul that Microsoft was hiding Google and other companies ads.  (As Google is an Ad company.) So, good...
  • It was actually a coalition of companies that set the standards. Microsoft, Facebook and Google among others worked together on this. https://www.betterads.org
  • Google news.
  • Because nobody uses Chrome in Windows.
  • If it's doesn't block Google then what good is it?
  • Hope this is blocking Google ads....
  • Sorry, just use Opera. Free VPN and also better ad blocker