Google, a Company Built on Ads, Considers Ad-Blocking Feature for Chrome
Google, which grew to among the largest technology companies in the world by selling advertising online, may soon offer a built-in ad-blocking feature for its own web browser, Chrome.
According to sources cited in the Wall Street Journal, the feature “would filter out certain online ad types deemed to provide bad experiences for users as they move around the web.”
Ad-blocking could come to Chrome as soon as next month, the WSJ suggests—or it may get sidelined indefinitely.
It seems that Google is considering the ancient approach: if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em. More than a quarter of internet users in North America employ some form of ad-block and that number is only rising. Google could increase adoption of Chrome and regain control over content by offering a built-in service.
In 2016, Google generated over $60 billion in revenue from ads, which as in all years past represents the bulk of the company’s financial success.
Chrome owns nearly half of the browser market in North America, according to StatCounter.
