How Publishers, Users, and Google stand to benefit from the Chrome ad filter

Google Chrome currently has about 55% of the global browser market share as of November 2017. To build a better web for everyone, Google will roll out its ‘ad-filter’ tool for Chrome this coming February 2018. This means that its Chrome browser would come with a built-in ad blocker tool to filter out sub-par ads that provide the bad user experience.

Ads such as Pop-ups, auto-playing videos with sound, and large banner ads are some of the ad formats identified as sub-par ads by the Coalition for Better Ads. This industry group (Coalition for Better Ads) includes leading tech giants like Google and Facebook, as well as publishers such as Reuters and The Washington Post and other ad companies.

The main aim of this ad filter, which will also block bad experiences served by Google, is to help curb users from installing ad-blockers that filter out all ads including the normal ads. With the built-in ad-filter in Chrome, publishers, and websites that follow industry-approved practices will not be penalized and lose ad revenue.

Here’s how Publishers, users, and Google are going to benefit from the Chrome ad filter:

Benefits for Publishers

According to recent reports by Page Fair, third-party ad-blocking tools grew over 30% globally in 2017. This highlights the need for better ads. If Chrome’s ad filter manages to reduce the number of third-party ad-blocking tools, Publisher’s ad inventory could become more valuable and would lead to more ad impressions on websites.

Benefits for Users

Apart from publishers, users can also surf the internet and consume content more easily with Chrome’s ad filtering. With Chrome’s ad-filter, ads that hinder the user experience will be banned. For example, ads that take up more than 30% of the vertical height of the main content on a mobile page will be banned. Also, ads with countdowns will be banned both in mobile and desktop. These types of ads make it more difficult for users to focus on and quickly consume content, and banning them will enhance the browsing experience.

Benefits for Google

If successful, the ad-filter tool from Google could slow the adoption rate of other third-party ad blockers that completely blocks all advertising. However, this move has drawn criticism from some because of the power it gives Google, which is itself an ad company and now wants to set standards for the entire industry.
Google’s upcoming ad-filter is likely to be a server-side feature that Google will turn on for all users over the course of a few days. The ad-filter tool will be available for both desktop and mobile, and it’ll be quite interesting to see how the online browsing experience changes following its release.