There are several ad-blocking apps available out there for mobile devices, but you probably wished Google would give you a built-in feature for that. Well reports are saying they will be doing so soon as the native ad-blocker seems to be showing up in the Chrome pre-release Canary app. That app tests out and previews features that will later on be added to the stable Chrome version (if it passes the test). So seeing an ad-blocker there is good news for Chrome users who hate those intrusive ads.
To be clear, this ad-blocker will not remove all ads from your browsing, as it will probably deplete Google’s advertisers if it did so. What it does is “block ads from sites that tend to show intrusive ads”. The Coalition for Better Ads is a cross-country organization that lists what consists of “offensive” ads and this is the basis for what Google will block on that built-in tool. This includes repeated pop-ups and “prestitial ads” that blocks part of the content that you want to look at with a countdown timer.
Google will reportedly release guidelines to its publishing partners on what intrusive ads are so that their own ads will not be blocked. This isn’t surprising or even illogical, since Google relies on advertising after all, and so they wouldn’t want to displease their partners. And we all know that seeing ads on the websites we browse through is part and parcel of getting “free” access to them. Intrusive ads are a different deal though, and so this ad-blocker should come in handy.
If you’re using the Canary build, you’ll find the ad blocker in the Ads section under the Site settings menu item. It’s set to off by default but just toggle it on and see if it makes a difference.
VIA: Caschys Blog
