Google's new Chrome browser, if widely adopted, is likely to have a significant impact on Internet advertising.Perhaps surprisingly for a company that depends on online ad revenue, Google has included pop-up ad concealment in Chrome. "In terms of building Chrome, it was really designed with the user in mind," a Google spokesperson explained. Ad concealment is distinct from ad blocking because Chrome actually loads pop-up ads. This is typically a billable event, even though the ads won't be seen unless users choose to maximize the pop-up ad windows that Chrome has minimized.As a consequence, the use of Chrome may result in billings to advertisers for cost-per-impression pop-up ads that were never viewed. The Firefox plug-in Adblock Plus prevents ads from being loaded and thus prevents advertisers from being billed for unseen ads. "This is not necessarily true for other ad-blocking solutions, however," Wladimir Palant, the software's creator, said in an e-mail.Palant estimates that 5% of Firefox users, representing almost 1% of Internet users as Firefox's market share approaches 20%, use Adblock Plus.Tom Charvet, technical founder of online ad auditing company Click Forensics, said that based on comments from the engineers he has spoken with, the typical ad blocker stops any ad impression from being recorded.
