The Google Chrome Adblocker is LIVE: Here’s Everything You Need to Know

What if every one of Google’s billion plus users of its market leading Chrome web browser had an adblocker? Now they do. As of February 15th, this scenario becomes a reality that needs to be understood and addressed by the world’s digital publishers and advertisers.

Traditional 3rd party adblocker usage has seen rapid growth in recent years with no signs of slowing down resulting in billions of dollars of lost ad revenue for publishers worldwide. Last summer, when Google announced that a future update of Chrome will automatically block certain ads by default, the industry began to speculate on intent and subsequent effects.

On February 13th, Chrome VP, Rahul Roy-Chowdhury released a brief, official statement that offered a glimpse into Google’s vision behind the move: “The browser for a web worth protecting”.

Highlighted is Google’s relationship with The Coalition For Better Ads, an independent organization of publishers, advertisers, and technology platforms that lists Facebook, Microsoft, GroupM, and the IAB among its members (disclosure: Admiral is a member of the Coalition). According to Roy-Chowdhury, the Coalition served as the architects behind the criteria used by Chrome to determine which ad formats will get filtered out. The critical first step for every publisher and advertiser is to understand the Coalition’s Better Ads Standards.

Admiral hosted an in-depth webinar alongside the Coalition and a number of its key publishing partners entitled “10 Things Top Publishers Are Doing to Prepare For Chrome's Adblocker”. The webinar deck with links, video, and transcript are below: