• by Tobi Elkin  @tobielkin, August 1, 2017

It’s no secret that Google plans to offer a built-in ad-blocking feature in its Chrome browser -- a feature that will appear next year. But developers got an early look at the ad blocker via a pre-release Canary app for Android.

In Canary, the blocker takes the form of a toggle in preferences, but it’s switched off by default, at least in the current version. The option allows users to toggle on a feature that will “Block ads from sites that tend to show intrusive ads.” Google has placed the toggle under Chrome’s settings menu, in a subsection of the Site Settings menu called "Ads.”

The feature was identified by the German-language Caschys Blog.

A handful of ad-tech executives checked in with Digital News Daily with comments on the ad-blocking feature:

“Native ads, which fit in with content on social, are far more likely to be accepted by users than pop-ups and pop-unders, which deliver a poor experience for internet users. That said, I’m not sure if this ad blocker will also scrape ads out of native ad placements,” said Jason Beckerman, CEO, Unified.

“This is a smart move by Google to show leadership and drive the agenda as set out by the Coalition for Better Ads. It’s also a move that could potentially strengthen Google's already dominant position in the digital ad space. Google, more or less, controls the browser market -- and an introduction of an ad-blocking feature would, by default, secure a strong position in the ad-blocking market and, through that, an even more dominant in the advertising space,” said Jakob Holm Kalkar, VP of operations, Europe, Blackwood Seven.  

“The safest option for marketers and agencies is to start building all creative responsively rather than for specific fixed sizes. If the creative is already built responsively and can adapt to unlimited sizes, then it will work within any publisher or browser requirements. Campaigns won't be derailed or have inflated budgets to rework,” said Paul Vincent, CEO, Neuranet.