If this actually results in an internet mostly free of super annoying ads, then I can't get too broken up about that even if it does give Google a major advantage over its competitors.
The question, of course, is whether Google can/will abuse this in anti-consumer ways. Some people have said that Google's criteria for "good" ads aren't that great. The article implies that Google can somehow force adblocker users to either pay per pageview or turn off their adblockers, which is awful if true, though I'm not clear how it's supposed to work.
> The article implies that Google can somehow force adblocker users to either pay per pageview or turn off their adblockers, which is awful if true, though I'm not clear how it's supposed to work.
And that's when you download a different browser...
>If this actually results in an internet mostly free of super annoying ads
This seems highly unlikely, since most of the annoying ads already come from google. Try watching a dailymotion video and you'll see. Even with a brand new Macbook Pro, it starts to stutter after a while because of all the fucking video adverts around the content. Same with some forum sites that have google ads beside each post.
In the end I created a simple blacklist in /etc/hosts, which completely resolves the problem and gets rid of virtually all adverts. Note that I don't have any philosophical objection to ads, and some of them are actually useful, but I draw the line when they make it impossible to actually see the content on the site.
The question, of course, is whether Google can/will abuse this in anti-consumer ways. Some people have said that Google's criteria for "good" ads aren't that great. The article implies that Google can somehow force adblocker users to either pay per pageview or turn off their adblockers, which is awful if true, though I'm not clear how it's supposed to work.