
Google’s native ad blocker for Chrome shows up in Android developer build - r721
https://techcrunch.com/2017/07/31/googles-native-ad-blocker-for-chrome-shows-up-in-android-developer-build/
======
breakingcups
I switched from Chrome to Firefox on Android because Firefox supports any
extension you want on mobile, where Chrome doesn't support any extensions on
mobile.

uBlock Origin alone has made that switch worth it. No ads in Google results
either.

~~~
whoami_nr
You could also try the Firefox Focus which comes with inbuilt adblocker and
tracking protection. However, it doesn't support multiple tabs and you lose
all data every time you close the application. It's perfect for one off
browsing sessions where you just want to look something up.

~~~
482794793792894
Personally, I have it set as my default browser, so that any links that I
click on in other applications open up in it and then I also have my full-
blown Firefox installed for when I need to do actual browsing.

Works out really well, as Focus starts up extremely quickly (uses the native
Android Webview), and I usually don't need each and every link in my browsing
history, and it also means that my proper Firefox doesn't get filled up with
random tabs that I didn't close out of properly.

~~~
goutham2688
Dumb question, if Focus uses Android webview, Can google still track the
webpages visited using focus. (i have clue on how the webview works)

~~~
zensavona
No :)

------
samfisher83
I wonder what this means:

“Block ads from sites that tend to show intrusive ads,”

So google ads don't get blocked? How is this any different than what ABP does.

Anyways qualcomm makes a browser a that blocks ads. They have been doing it
for a few years. Here is my compiled version:

[https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.rsbrowser....](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.rsbrowser.browser)

I am sure there are other versions too.

~~~
mortehu
You can find the Better Ads Standard's "Least preferred ad experiences" here:
[https://www.betterads.org/standards/](https://www.betterads.org/standards/)

~~~
tinalumfoil
If I'm reading this correctly "autoplaying video ads with sound" means they
don't consider YouTube ads acceptable.

~~~
sqeaky
I think by autoplaying they starts playing when the page loads. There are a
ton of news websites that put an obnoxious ad in the middle of the article.

I am not sure if video ads in the middle of Youtube videos would count. They
seem more like TV commercials and seem to bother people less than audio on a
page that only needs text.

But ads before videos probably should count.

------
mejin
I wonder if YouTube video ads count as "intrusive ads". Because YouTube was
the tipping point that made me decide to install ublock origin. I also
download Firefox for Android because I don't want my data to be eaten up by
video ads when I'm browsing videos.

~~~
aedron
I generally dislike web ads, but I don't really mind YouTube. The ad plays,
then goes away. You can even skip it after a few seconds. As far as ads go I
think it's a very reasonable implementation.

~~~
chungy
It's really dependent on video. Some videos can be 20 minutes long and you
have a skippable ad in the beginning only. Other videos are only ~6 minutes
long and play an unskippable ad every 45 seconds.

It probably depends on monetization settings with the channel holder, but it's
really annoying. The former kind, I don't mind, but the latter is almost as
bad as cable TV.

~~~
NTripleOne
Maybe it's a little different depending on your creator status, who you're
partnered with, etc - but from my experience of monetising videos, there is
very little control over the ads, for example, here's what I see when I choose
to monetise a video.

[http://i.imgur.com/wTbpa8a.png](http://i.imgur.com/wTbpa8a.png)

Excuse the dark theme, it makes the checks a little hard to see.

------
guelo
I was an Android user for many years but what drove me away was the inability
to set a system-level adblocker without rooting. The cherry on top was the
inability to turn off the unique advertising tracking ID provided by the
system. When I found myself setting up a weekly reminder to manually reset the
ad tracking ID I realized I was never going to win the fight over control of
my own device and I switched.

I don't know what advanced level jiu-jitsu the evil Google product managers
are trying to pull off with this adblocker but I am glad I don't have to worry
about it anymore. Though I am sad I lost what I once thought was a great
champion for users.

~~~
BHSPitMonkey
What did you switch to that offers those things, and how was it easier than
either rooting stock Android or switching to a FOSS Android distro?

~~~
danieldk
[https://developer.apple.com/library/content/documentation/Ge...](https://developer.apple.com/library/content/documentation/General/Conceptual/ExtensibilityPG/ContentBlocker.html)

It is not system-wide, but does extend to Safari View Controllers.

I never encountered an ad on my iPhone since I installed a Safari ad blocker
(I don't use any ad-supported free games/applications).

~~~
vxNsr
I've found that it doesn't work on SVC. Meaning when I open a link in say
twitter ads will still show up but if I open it in safari ads are gone.

------
egorpe
So, Google is going to block their competitors' ads and keep showing their
own?

~~~
IshKebab
To be fair if all ads were as unobtrusive as Google's we wouldn't have a
problem.

I think the fundamental issue is that Google's ads are more valuable (because
they can target them really well - they literally know what you are looking
for), so they don't _need_ to be as obtrusive.

If you just visit a random news site they don't really know what ads to show
you (which I guess is why they are more like TV ads - for cars, perfume, etc.)
and those adverts are far more speculative and worth less, so they need to be
much more obtrusive to earn the same money.

~~~
huhtenberg
> _... as unobtrusive as Google 's we wouldn't have a problem._

I don't seem to understand which "problem" you are referring to exactly?

~~~
sk0g
The one installing an ad block plugin solves.

~~~
cidibe
It seems in this thread people think the vast majority are mainly against ads
because of privacy rather than inconvenience.

~~~
davidcbc
I think the claim that the "vast majority" are against ads because of privacy
is questionable at best. HN is not a good representation of the concerns of
the "vast majority". I don't have any data either but my guess is that the
average ad blocker user installs an ad blocker because the ads are annoying,
not because of privacy. That's not to say that the privacy concerns aren't
legitimate or that more people shouldn't be aware of the privacy concerns, but
I just don't think that's the reality of why most people use ad blockers
today.

If ads become less intrusive and annoying less people will use an ad blocker,
but there would still be a market for the privacy conscious who block ads for
privacy rather than convenience.

Disclaimer: I work at Google, I don't work on ads or Chrome, I do use ad
blockers, my opinions are my own, etc.

------
tyingq
_Google is said to be providing publisher partners with guidelines about what
qualifies as “intrusive ads,”

...These include...so-called “prestitial ads” that prevent content from being
shown, often tied to a countdown timer._

That sounds a lot like what YouTube puts in the front of videos. Somehow I
doubt they will be blocked.

~~~
arjie
What YouTube has is a preroll. Imagine if Youtube had a full page cover up on
it like Forbes.com. That would be a prestitial. Websites can have both.

~~~
akoncius
well, in youtube main content is video. preroll BLOCKS access to video for
first 5 seconds, so it's actually the same as page cover up in forbes.com

------
aorth
Looking forward to seeing this mature and be tested by the community. For what
it's worth, Samsung Internet is now available on non-Samsung phones and
supports content blocking plugins (like Disconnect, AdBlock Fast, etc). It's
incredibly smooth and polished as well, making it a great replacement for
Chrome on Android as long as you don't need the Google account sync features.

[https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.sec.androi...](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.sec.android.app.sbrowser)

------
a_imho
Calling it an adblocker is pretty dishonest when it's main purpose is to
enforce Coalition for Better Ads standards. It is not an alternative to wide
spectrum 3rd party content blockers at all for people who care about a clean
browsing experience.

It could block competitor ads, assuming it will be default enabled later when
it hits general availability and the majority of Chrome users do not care
about tweaking their settings.

------
chaz6
I would no more trust a Google ad blocker than I would trust a thief to fit my
locks.

------
dis-sys
Using ad blocker from the biggest ad company is like asking a drug dealer to
help fighting ones drug addition.

------
paule89
Well i tried it and it failed. Have to this day see any really blocked ads.
The often very intrusive ones still get through.

------
johnnydoe9
I'm sure there will be millions of people who wouldn't know how to disable the
inbuilt ad block, it would be interesting to see change in sites that don't
work unless you pause the adblock.

~~~
ucho
Even more interesting will be the effect on sites that can't get "good" ads
due to adult content or sketchy legality like file sharing sites.

------
vxNsr
Looks like they took a page out of Microsoft's 90s EEE playbook. If they can
get things to go as planned, in 2 years ublock will be removed from the chrome
store because it's "unnecessary" and before long we'll be served the same ads
as now only with no way to clock them in chrome.

I've downloaded Firefox on my phone and computer and will now be migrating
over.

------
omgmog
Switching to Firefox Focus [1] is probably a better solution -- it's
Webkit/Blink under the hood, but blocks ads/trackers and doesn't maintain a
browser history.

[1] [https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/focus/](https://www.mozilla.org/en-
US/firefox/focus/)

~~~
moosingin3space
From my look at the Focus source, it's not Webkit/Blink on Android.

------
yuhong
I am beginning to think that the current ad bubble is probably fundamentally
flawed and somewhat similar to the dot-com bubble. I said before that printing
money using basic income would only inflate it. Ads are designed to increase
consumption, and we have a debt-based economy.

------
mp3geek
Is there a list we can see/review that Chrome uses?

------
lazarus101
Let me guess, all ads that are not from Google will be considered 'intrusive'
by Chrome.

------
dgranda
If you are not an extensive user of plugins, another option to block ads and
tracking when browsing the Internet is Brave [1]

[1]
[https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.brave.brow...](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.brave.browser)

------
rdslw
In other news: thieves declaring to provide monitoring solutions recording
they work.

------
huhtenberg
Such a farce.

