{"id":13726,"date":"2019-11-01T15:28:07","date_gmt":"2019-11-01T09:58:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.adpushup.com\/blog\/?p=13726"},"modified":"2022-11-15T17:19:16","modified_gmt":"2022-11-15T11:49:16","slug":"chrome-is-developing-a-heavy-ad-blocker-heres-what-to-expect","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.adpushup.com\/blog\/chrome-is-developing-a-heavy-ad-blocker-heres-what-to-expect\/","title":{"rendered":"Chrome is Developing a ‘Heavy Ad Blocker’, Here’s What to Expect","gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"text"}]},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Google is working on a heavy ad blocker for Chrome designed specifically for eliminating ads which consume an “egrigious amount of system resources”.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Google has always been committed to promoting better advertising experience on the web. Back in 2016, Chrome banned Adobe Flash-based ads<\/a> \u201cto enhance the browsing experience for more people on more devices\u201d, and pushed for the adoption of the newer HTML5 standard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In February 2018, Chrome enabled ad filtering<\/a> to block \u2018intrusive ads\u2019 (as defined by the Better Ads Standards<\/a>) across North America and Europe. On July 9th of this year, the update was rolled out globally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Under pressure from competing browsers such as Safari and Firefox, Google also started limiting cookies for ad tracking in Chrome<\/a>\u2014even though cookie-based tracking is the foundation for behavioural advertising.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unlike Apple and Mozilla, Google makes a large chunk of its revenue from online advertising. This means that Google is always walking a thin line between keeping Chrome users happy and fostering the ad-supported web.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Heavy Ad Intervention<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Based on a recent Chromium commit<\/a> and an explainer on Heavy Ad Intervention<\/a>, it looks like Google is doubling down on its initiative of cutting down bad advertising<\/strong> and delivering better experiences for users. The new update targets \u2018heavy ads\u2019\u2014which Google defines as ad iframes that \u201cuse an egregious amount of system resources\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some ad behaviours that Chrome intends to discourage with this update include ads that mine cryptocurrency, ads that load poorly compressed files, ads that load large video files before a user interaction, and ads that perform extensive JS operations, such as decoding video files or CPU timing attacks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also read: Chrome Update: Google Will Start Blocking Intrusive Ads In Short Videos<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The commit provides more information as to what constitutes a heavy ad:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This intervention unloads ads that are in the .1% of bandwidth usage, .1% of CPU usage per minute, and .1% of overall CPU time. The current numbers are 4MB network and 60 seconds CPU, but may be changed as more data is available.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

While the existing ad filtering in Chrome blocks out ads on a page-level, the \u2018heavy ads\u2019 update will only target specific problem ads<\/strong> that are found to consume an excessive amount of system resources. Unloaded ads cannot be accessed by users, but are replaced on-page with a notice of removal and a \u201cDetails\u201d button that users can click on to learn more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n