Why Google Chrome will start blocking resource-heavy ads?

Google announced last week that Chrome will start blocking resource-heavy ads.

Chrome’s product team discovered that “a fraction of a percent of ads consume a disproportionate share of device resources, such as battery and network data”.

So, if an ad is using too many resources, Chrome will show an error page in the frame where the ad would have been shown.

There are 3 possible thresholds an ad can hit to be blocked:

– 4MB of network data

– 15 seconds of CPU usage in any 30-second period

– 60 seconds of total CPU usage

The thresholds represent just 0.3% of ads, Google said. We all know that ad blockers protect the users’ privacy and prevent their browsers or devices from getting infected with malware.

When Google joined the Coalition for Better Ads, a group that specifies standards for how the industry should improve ads for consumers, Chrome released its built-in ad blocker that blocks all ads (including those owned or served by Google) on websites that display non-compliant ads, as defined by the coalition.

Chrome’s ad-blocker is a clear competitor to the current industry leader, AdBlock, but it doesn’t need to be installed as it’s turned on by default, and the blocking of advertisements happens without any user interaction.

Other sources: see in the LinkedIn comments.

Previously posted by Luca Brighenti via LinkedIn.