Google has added ads on both its search page and Chrome://newtab

#1

Post by Nephx » Fri, Sep 30, 2022, 8:35 AM UTC

Users are reporting banner ads such as "New! Track your health and fitness with the..." below the search box on both google.com and chrome://newtab.

Google has historically been protective of their front page, why now?

Re: Google has added ads on both its search page and Chrome://newtab

#2

Post by pcsalad » Fri, Sep 30, 2022, 8:53 AM UTC

Have you seen this banner by yourself? Tried from a few different locations with no luck

Re: Google has added ads on both its search page and Chrome://newtab

#3

Post by yonghoord » Fri, Sep 30, 2022, 8:54 AM UTC

No post body was provided.

Re: Google has added ads on both its search page and Chrome://newtab

#4

Post by boltzmann-brain » Fri, Sep 30, 2022, 9:03 AM UTC

No post body was provided.

Re: Google has added ads on both its search page and Chrome://newtab

#5

Post by rany_ » Fri, Sep 30, 2022, 10:14 AM UTC

boltzmann-brain wrote: post #4

Quoted post unavailable.

But add-ons cannot run on pages in chrome:// namespace

Re: Google has added ads on both its search page and Chrome://newtab

#6

Post by rany_ » Fri, Sep 30, 2022, 10:14 AM UTC

I've had something similar happen to me before. Google showed me an advert for Pixel 6a on the bottom of the search bar in both the new tab and Google.com main page

Re: Google has added ads on both its search page and Chrome://newtab

#7

Post by Nephx » Fri, Sep 30, 2022, 10:19 AM UTC

pcsalad wrote: post #2

Have you seen this banner by yourself? Tried from a few different locations with no luck

Yep, Fitbit smartwatch ad for us in Sweden, no Chrome plugins (even shows up in incognito).

Might be exclusive to a portion of users or locations.

Re: Google has added ads on both its search page and Chrome://newtab

#8

Post by Nephx » Fri, Sep 30, 2022, 10:19 AM UTC

boltzmann-brain wrote: post #4

Quoted post unavailable.

No addons, same behaviour in incognito.

Re: Google has added ads on both its search page and Chrome://newtab

#9

Post by zinekeller » Fri, Sep 30, 2022, 10:29 AM UTC

boltzmann-brain wrote: post #4

Quoted post unavailable.

Nope, it's really there: https://i.ibb.co/ygp2x49/Fitbit-Ad-Google-com.png

Re: Google has added ads on both its search page and Chrome://newtab

#10

Post by zinekeller » Fri, Sep 30, 2022, 10:32 AM UTC

Can confirm (https://i.ibb.co/ygp2x49/Fitbit-Ad-Google-com.png).

It actually reminds me of old Google announcing "New! You can now search for images" or such except repurposed for things outside of Search. The first one is reasonable (there are people that do want to search for images or research papers), but the current incarnation reminds me of a corporation solely running on inertia.