How Google Chrome’s ad blocker works • Hacker News Board

Re: How Google Chrome’s ad blocker works

#21

Post by rmrfrmrf » Sat, Feb 03, 2018, 2:40 PM UTC

rocqua wrote: post #14

How will this not lead to google strangling their competitors. Are we really going to have to just trust them to use this fairly? Will we really expect google to interpret the Better Ads Standard without any bias, treating their own ads equally to other ads? Maybe they will be good, but I for one am not comfortable with this. Imagine what happens when chrome decides Facebook ads deserve to be blocked.

According to the article, this is more about google's competitors strangling them (by being so intrusive that customers consider full ad blockers to be necessary).

Re: How Google Chrome’s ad blocker works

#22

Post by pbhjpbhj » Sat, Feb 03, 2018, 2:41 PM UTC

carlosrg wrote: post #15

This is a good thing. Advertising is one of the most effective ways companies have to let people know about their products - I'd say they're essential in free market economies. But having ads is one thing and completely disrupting the user experience is another. Finding a balance is a better approach than blocking all ads.

Advertising is very seldom information based.

Advertising is primarily about making you buy a product from a particular company, whether it's a good product or not, whether it's right for you or not.

If it were about letting people know your products then 'Nide' would have "if you want these for cross-training the best show are 'Reebob' Cross2" on the advert for their training shoes.

Advertising is almost orthogonal to informative disclosure.

Re: How Google Chrome’s ad blocker works

#23

Post by rmrfrmrf » Sat, Feb 03, 2018, 2:42 PM UTC

kbwt wrote: post #18

OskarS wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree. It seems like adblockers and intrusive and unethical advertising are creating almost a negative feedback loop on the internet: the more intrusive and annoying the ads, the more people use adblockers, and the more people use adblockers, the more intrusive and annoying the ads become, because they have to make up the revenue. The only ones in a position to break this cycle is the browsers, and I welcome any at…

> because they have to make up the revenue. I see this all the time when justifying bad business practices. How about you stop doing what you're doing if it isn't profitable?

YAGNI

Re: How Google Chrome’s ad blocker works

#24

Post by RyanShook » Sat, Feb 03, 2018, 2:43 PM UTC

I think Google is setting itself up for antitrust action. Isn’t this essentially what Microsoft did on the desktop by blocking competitors and priorritizing their own products?

Re: How Google Chrome’s ad blocker works

#25

Post by jmkni » Sat, Feb 03, 2018, 2:43 PM UTC

Will this work on the mobile versions of Chrome as well (Android, iOS, etc)?

For iOS in particular, there doesn't seem to be any officially supported way to block ads.

Re: How Google Chrome’s ad blocker works

#26

Post by kodablah » Sat, Feb 03, 2018, 2:45 PM UTC

Which is it, the super secret consortium that won't even let you download the full list of bad sites, or Easy List/Privacy? Why don't they just use EasyList and report offenders there instead of this new consortium? The answer to that rhetorical question will let you know why I'll remain on uBO. They didn't need to build this in, but they did and gave the current ad-blocking community the finger instead of support.

Re: How Google Chrome’s ad blocker works

#27

Post by nothrabannosir » Sat, Feb 03, 2018, 2:45 PM UTC

MereInterest wrote: post #13

Google's incentives here are still antithetical to my own, so I'm going to stick with uBlock. For example, on Google search, ads masquerade as legitimate search results. These used to be highlighted in light yellow, clearly marking them as different from organic search results. Now, they only have the word "Ad" in light grey text. This notice is on the right, intentionally where it will be overlooked when reading thr…

> These used to be highlighted in light yellow, clearly marking them as different from organic search results.

The specific shade of yellow was indiscernible from background white on a cheap laptop at almost any angle. I wish I'd taken a photo when I noticed. I knew people who had never even noticed the yellow, at all, let alone understood it was ads.

I know, Never Attribute To Malice and all that, but hot damn, that must have been a massive multi million dollar move of "ignorance".

Re: How Google Chrome’s ad blocker works

#28

Post by jacquesm » Sat, Feb 03, 2018, 2:47 PM UTC

MereInterest wrote: post #13

Google's incentives here are still antithetical to my own, so I'm going to stick with uBlock. For example, on Google search, ads masquerade as legitimate search results. These used to be highlighted in light yellow, clearly marking them as different from organic search results. Now, they only have the word "Ad" in light grey text. This notice is on the right, intentionally where it will be overlooked when reading thr…

Remember when Google claimed that paid inclusion was one of the worst sins a search engine could commit? One so bad that it made it claim other search engines were evil?

Re: How Google Chrome’s ad blocker works

#29

Post by arielm » Sat, Feb 03, 2018, 2:47 PM UTC

To have an ad network control so much of web traffic and then decide which ads to block is just absurd.

If the chrome team and google’s ad teams were not controlled by the same unit that primarily makes money from ads it would have been ok, but given that they do, what incentive will they have to block their own ads and how much more powerful is it making their own network?

Sadly, chrome is still the easiest browser to use, especially as a developer

Re: How Google Chrome’s ad blocker works

#30

Post by jacquesm » Sat, Feb 03, 2018, 2:47 PM UTC

nothrabannosir wrote: post #27

MereInterest wrote: post #13

Google's incentives here are still antithetical to my own, so I'm going to stick with uBlock. For example, on Google search, ads masquerade as legitimate search results. These used to be highlighted in light yellow, clearly marking them as different from organic search results. Now, they only have the word "Ad" in light grey text. This notice is on the right, intentionally where it will be overlooked when reading thr…

> These used to be highlighted in light yellow, clearly marking them as different from organic search results. The specific shade of yellow was indiscernible from background white on a cheap laptop at almost any angle. I wish I'd taken a photo when I noticed. I knew people who had never even noticed the yellow, at all, let alone understood it was ads. I know, Never Attribute To Malice and all that, but hot damn, that…

I am more than happy to attribute it to malice because that is exactly what Google did with their competitors when they were just starting out.