Google’s Chrome Quietly Plans to Block Third-Party Ad-Blockers

(The AEGIS Alliance) – GOOGLE – Google’s Chrome browser is rated the most popular way to browse the internet for both mobile and desktop devices. It’s popularity has to do with a mixture of features that creates a reliable experience, although sometimes it can use intense resources on your device.

However, recent plans by Google may ruin users’ experience with Chrome. A few months ago, Google made an announcement that it proposes making changes to how extensions in Chrome work. Such changes would stop current ad-blockers from being able to function.

There was some negative feedback from Chrome users about this, but it didn’t deter Google from going through with its plans.

A few days ago, Google gave a response to some of the new plans’ criticism from 9to5Google about its changes named Manifest V3, and explained what the changes will be.

Google gave confirmation that Chrome users would not be able to use ad-blockers anymore. Instead, Chrome would still be able to block content if a user pays for the enterprise version of Chrome.

According to a spokesperson for Google, they told 9to5Google that “Chrome supports the use and development of ad blockers,” and also said, “Google is actively working with the developer community to get feedback and iterate on the design of a privacy-preserving content filtering system that limits the amount of sensitive browser data shared with third parties.

However, the plans in the near future for Chrome are going to render most ad-blockers in the browser unable to work. This is not a surprising move by Google, since the company generates revenue through advertising.

Alphabet, the parent company of Google, made note in an SEC Form 10-K filing recently that ad blocker extensions pose a risk to advertisement revenue, and stated:

“New and existing technologies could affect our ability to customize ads and/or could block ads online, which would harm our business.”

“Technologies have been developed to make customizable ads more difficult or to block the display of ads altogether, and some providers of online services have integrated technologies that could potentially impair the core functionality of third-party digital advertising. Most of our Google revenues are derived from fees paid to us in connection with the display of ads online. As a result, such technologies and tools could adversely affect our operating results.”

Interestingly enough, at I/O 2019, Google announced very clearly that it is planning to make better security and privacy available to users, which goes to go against the company’s bottom line.

Google made efforts at redefining privacy to better fit its needs around that point in time. Keep in mind that Google is making attempts to protect its customizable ads that are sold to businesses, which indicated that Google is not going to give up collecting data from users anytime in the near future, or possibly ever.

Although, here’s a reminder that Google wants to improve the experience with advertising on the web, as a way of preventing the more annoying ads that users typically put ad blockers in place to block them from showing up to begin with.

In Google’s response, it also stated that versions of Chrome in the future are going to make it easier for users to understand the permissions required by extensions which will force developers to make it clear to users about what kind of data the extensions are able to access.

Google looks at these moves as a way to prevent abuse and protect privacy. However, this does not eliminate the fact Google is planning to temporarily or permanently disable ad-blockers from third-parties.

Kyle James Lee – The AEGIS Alliance – This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Kyle James Lee

Majority Owner of The AEGIS Alliance. I studied in college for Media Arts, Game Development. Talents include Writer/Article Writer, Graphic Design, Photoshop, Web Design and Development, Video Production, Social Media, and eCommerce.

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