Google introduces an advertising filter for the Chrome browser
Google, of all companies: The U.S. corporation, which generates most of its profits through advertising, now wants to reduce that very source of revenue. Google has announced an ad blocker for its Chrome web browser. This has also drawn criticism.
Using ad filters to combat ad blockers - this is roughly how Google's new strategy can be described. To prevent even more users from downloading an ad blocker, the US giant wants to block particularly annoying advertising on its Chrome browser.
On Thursday, February 15, a moderate adblocker will be launched that stops videos from playing automatically, for example, or filters out pop-ups.
This may sound somewhat illogical for a company that rakes in billions of dollars in advertising money every year. "In the short term, we won't benefit from this at all," explained Google manager Michael Todd.
Rather, it is about a longer-term strategy. In other words, it is about preventing more and more users from installing an adblocker to completely block out online advertising. According to the Adblock Report from February 2017, 615 million adblockers were already installed worldwide a year ago - and the trend is rising.
Powerful position
Critics fear that Google's filter will further expand its already powerful position in the advertising business. After all, the company operates an advertising market worth billions on the internet. And its in-house product Chrome is by far the most widely used browser in the world, with a market share of around 56 percent.
The Group argues that it alone does not decide which advertising is screened out. Instead, it adheres to the Better Ad Standards, i.e. the rules established by the Coalition for Better Ads. This is an industry association that includes Google, Microsoft, the Washington Post or the Axel Springer publishing house.
However, the Association of German Magazine Publishers (VDZ) views Google's market power with concern. "This is where the gatekeeper becomes the filtering Bad Ads even more of a decision-maker as to who can place which ads and earn money with them," it said in a statement.
"Google has the decisive say and also the power to implement it." This goes beyond log-ins, operating systems and browsers, explained the association, which represents more than 500 publishers. "Chrome is a central part of Google's strategy to dominate the advertising markets." (SDA)
