The Battle Against Ads!

Since the dawn of the internet, advertisements have been utilized to support websites. Unfortunately, many websites started to take advantage of their viewership and loaded their pages with ads. Internet browser's have enabled developers to create extensions for awhile now. Unsurprisingly, the most popular type of extensions are ad blockers used to attack websites flooded with unnecessary advertisements. However, these extensions have been severely hurting legitimate websites (especially news outlets). Some websites plead with their viewers to turn the extension off while visiting. Therefore, using an ad blocker has presented a moral dilemma for avid internet surfers. I think the issue is one of opinion, preference, and personal security. Yet, perhaps a topic for another day!

Recently, Google has updated their Chrome browser to include an add blocker. As tech headlines glowed, many users rightfully asked: "How could Google, who make a vast majority of revenue from advertisements, do such a thing? Actually, Google is acting with others on a bigger scale. Google is a member of the Coalition for Better Ads, a group of a variety of tech companies (even Facebook) to provide standards for advertising. Google's "ad blocker" is enforcing the new standards, removing certain types of advertisement such as pop up, auto play, and obnoxiously sized advertisements . The "bad ads" are outline here on the Better Ads websites.
Alright fantastic, Google is forcing a decent standard for those using Chrome. But, do not forget that Google is still trying to make money! They hope this will get people off ad blocking extension so they can earn more ad revenue.

If you really want to be picky about your ad selection you have a couple of options. Primarily, advertisement overlords Google have a simple system to edit your preferences here. Secondly, you can follow this detailed guide by How To Geek to decrease targeted advertisements (you know, the competing ads that pop up right after searching for some new L.L.Bean Boots).