Chrome
has determined the
12 ad types which will trigger its blocking system based
on standards set by the Coalition for Better Ads, an
industry group where Google is a board member.
However,
several members of the Coalition of Better Ads told The Wall
Street Journal that they felt that Google had undue
influence over the committees actions, because it
spearheaded the research used to determine the intrusive ad
types.
For
example, YouTube's pre-roll video ads weren't included in
research on intrusive ad types, which Johnny Ryan, the head
of ecosystem at PageFair, a company that helps publishers
protect against ad blocking, calls a "remarkable omission."
"Though
Chrome's adblocker is a welcome improvement for users, it is
not surprising that website owners are aghast that ads are
being cleaned up on their sites, while Google's own formats
go unharmed," he told CNBC.
Google
told Wall Street Journal that it plans to test video ad
formats in the future.
Meanwhile,
some believe that the sheer scale of Google's business makes
this move feel a bit like it's playing God with what users
will or will not see online.
Google's
global online ads business is bigger than its next five
competitors combined, while Chrome has 59.23 percent browser
market share across desktop and mobile, according
to NetMarketshare.com.
"This
gives Google even more power over the internet now than ever
before," Rich Kahn, the CEO of digital advertising company
eZanga tells CNBC. "When does one consider it to be too much
power in the hands of one company?"
Even
though users will be able to disable the adblock setting on
Chrome, Kahn still sees the browser's move as dictating what
websites can or cannot show and what internet users can or
cannot see.
"I
agree with the spirit of the CBA, there's no question we
need to provide consumers with a better experience on the
web," says Marc Guldimann, CEO of an ad startup called
Parsec which had to phase
out a version of it's product when Chrome first announced
its changes.
"Unfortunately
some of the implementation specifics, especially around
research methodology, were less than ideal."