4 ms·

I wonder if the motivation isn't a bit more subtle than that. My guess would be they're hoping to improve ads across the web so that people turn off ad blockers

by bpicolo 10y ago

I wonder if the motivation isn't a bit more subtle than that. My guess would be they're hoping to improve ads across the web so that people turn off ad blockers in general.

xienze 10y ago
And if they can gimp their competitors at the same time, bonus!
ohyeshedid 10y ago
Perhaps it is, but if there were the case why wouldn't they start by cleaning up their own platforms? There are several angles to be wary of. Locking out competitors, replacing competitor ads with their own, forcing sites to migrate to, or back to, Google ad networks, etc.
- _eht 10y ago
  Working with Google ads for over seven years as a publisher, they have one of the cleanest ad networks in the game. On top of that, you can preview every single ad that is shown with your account and block accordingly. I agree, they need to thread carefully, but things need to change, and that change needs to come from two angles: publishers whoring out their users and ad networks not taking responsibility for what they let on their networks.
  - mkl 10y ago
    > you can preview every single ad that is shown with your account and block accordingly. Really? I've never used Google ads, so for all I know you're right, but why would none of the ~600 comments in the previous discussion [1] mention that? [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14094083 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14094083
    - _eht 10y ago
      https://support.google.com/adxseller/answer/4587864?hl=en https://support.google.com/adxseller/answer/4587864?hl=en I'm on the Adx platform, which was invite only a few years back. It has some differences to Adsense, but I believe ad review and transparency with what creatives are displayed is part of both cores. If I were to guess, there were 600 people in the thread who were not actually publishers using Google ads.
pwg 10y ago
This is very likely the reason this has suddenly appeared in Chrome. Google's revenue relies on ads. Too many internet users blocking too many ads directly threatens Google's revenue stream. The recent sudden upsurge in ad-blocking would, from a Google perspective, look like an existential threat to their very existence. And what would be one reasonable response that a company reliant on ads for income who also happens to produce a browser used by a huge number of users look like when they realize this existential threat exists? Well, one reasonable response would be exactly this, a "kill the misbehaving ones" addition to that browser in hopes of heading off the threat before it becomes a true, company killing, result. Only time will tell if this change in mindset on their part actually results in heading off the eventual outcome.

by bpicolo 10y ago

I wonder if the motivation isn't a bit more subtle than that. My guess would be they're hoping to improve ads across the web so that people turn off ad blockers in general.

xienze 10y ago

And if they can gimp their competitors at the same time, bonus!

ohyeshedid 10y ago

Perhaps it is, but if there were the case why wouldn't they start by cleaning up their own platforms? There are several angles to be wary of. Locking out competitors, replacing competitor ads with their own, forcing sites to migrate to, or back to, Google ad networks, etc.

_eht 10y ago
Working with Google ads for over seven years as a publisher, they have one of the cleanest ad networks in the game. On top of that, you can preview every single ad that is shown with your account and block accordingly. I agree, they need to thread carefully, but things need to change, and that change needs to come from two angles: publishers whoring out their users and ad networks not taking responsibility for what they let on their networks.
- mkl 10y ago
  > you can preview every single ad that is shown with your account and block accordingly. Really? I've never used Google ads, so for all I know you're right, but why would none of the ~600 comments in the previous discussion [1] mention that? [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14094083 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14094083
  - _eht 10y ago
    https://support.google.com/adxseller/answer/4587864?hl=en https://support.google.com/adxseller/answer/4587864?hl=en I'm on the Adx platform, which was invite only a few years back. It has some differences to Adsense, but I believe ad review and transparency with what creatives are displayed is part of both cores. If I were to guess, there were 600 people in the thread who were not actually publishers using Google ads.

pwg 10y ago

This is very likely the reason this has suddenly appeared in Chrome. Google's revenue relies on ads. Too many internet users blocking too many ads directly threatens Google's revenue stream. The recent sudden upsurge in ad-blocking would, from a Google perspective, look like an existential threat to their very existence. And what would be one reasonable response that a company reliant on ads for income who also happens to produce a browser used by a huge number of users look like when they realize this existential threat exists? Well, one reasonable response would be exactly this, a "kill the misbehaving ones" addition to that browser in hopes of heading off the threat before it becomes a true, company killing, result. Only time will tell if this change in mindset on their part actually results in heading off the eventual outcome.