Rumor has it that Google is developing a built-in ad blocker for Chrome, and it may even be enabled by default for everyone.
This is surprising, given that Google's main source of money is still advertising.
However, the Wall Street Journal reports that Google is planning to offer its own ad blocker in Chrome that will block a specific type of advertising. Specifically, the company is considering stopping the display of particularly annoying ads, such as pop-overs, auto-playing audio and video, and more.
Google seems to be seeking to help (?) those who, although annoyed by ads, lack the know-how to install an ad blocker or who don't know that such a thing exists.
According to the publication, Google does not want to make deals with third-party developers, such as Adblock Plus, who require fees to provide whitelists on ads from companies like Google.
Basically, while the Adblock Plus app is one of the most popular ones out there, it doesn't just whitelist "good" ads that aren't too annoying, but it also takes money to allow various other ads to bypass its filters.
Implementing an ad blocker directly into Chrome seems like a sensible move, as the browser is used by 1+ billion users, and has half the market share. This step could stop third-party app development as users would have a way to block ads without installing additional extensions.
Of course, Google won't stop showing ads in its browser.
But that's not the problem.
Google is an advertising company, and with an ad blocker, it gains more control over what ads appear or are blocked. Ultimately, what will Google block and what will it allow? Who gets to control that?
