• by Ben Frederick  @mp_benfred, December 1, 2015

Google has updated the data saver mode in Google Chrome on Android — no word on iOS yet — to save up to 70% of data while browsing the mobile Web by blocking images from loading immediately.

This development is especially useful for those users on plans with low data caps, or in places where high speed Internet isn’t readily available.

The data saver blocks most images from loading a page when users have a slow connection. For marketers, it means that the mobile Web is becoming a wasteland for getting ads in front of users, especially those with low cap data plans.

Ad blockers have been available for Android since before Apple made them a major talking point by automatically adding the service to its Safari browser on mobile.

Marketers recognized that they’d screwed up the mobile Web experience by weighing pages down with ads.

The updated data saver option will debut in India and Indonesia, but will be rolled out in other countries in early 2016. As mobile extends into the developing world, the mobile Web needs to be more accessible to those users who are driving growth in those areas.

A sleeker version of the mobile Web experience will most likely evolve from these various developments in the next year or two.

Google has also taken a leaf out of Pinterest’s book and introduced image bookmarking and folders for Google image searches, instead of saving them directly to the abyss of your camera roll.