Google to Preinstall Chrome Ad-Blocker to ‘Build a Better Web’

Google makes most of its money from online advertisements, but that isn’t stopping the company from admitting that some ads just aren’t worth seeing.

“It’s far too common that people encounter annoying, intrusive ads on the web—like the kind that blare music unexpectedly, or force you to wait 10 seconds before you can see the content on the page,” explains Sridhar Ramaswamy, senior vice president of ads and commerce for Google. “These frustrating experiences can lead some people to block all ads—taking a big toll on the content creators, journalists, web developers and videographers who depend on ads to fund their content creation.”

Google has joined the Coalition for Better Ads, an industry group dedicated to improving online ads.  The group recently announced the Better Ads Standards, which provide public, data-driven guidance for how the industry can improve ads for consumers. G0ogle says it has decided to support these standards.

The biggest move Google will make, at least as far as a web user is concerned, is via the company’s web browser, Chrome.

“In dialogue with the Coalition and other industry groups, we plan to have Chrome stop showing ads (including those owned or served by Google) on websites that are not compliant with the Better Ads Standard,” says Ramaswamy.

The change is expected to take effect early next year.