Page 24 - ARUBA TODAY

A24 TECHNOLOGY
Thursday 15 February 2018
Critics wary as Google's Chrome begins an ad crackdown

By RYAN NAKASHIMA which it gets a direct cut of
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — On revenue. A similar Federal
Thursday, Google will begin Trade Commission probe of
using its Chrome browser to Google ended in 2013 with
reshape the web by eradi- a settlement and no fine .
cating ads it deems annoy- More recently, the News
ing or otherwise detrimental Media Alliance has urged
to users. It just so happens Congress to look at how
that many of Google's own Google pressures media
most lucrative ads will pret- outlets to put stories in
ty much sail through its new its “Accelerated Mobile
filters. Pages” format, which also
The move, which Google tightly restricts ad formats
first floated back in June, is and provides Google a
ostensibly aimed at making new source of revenue in
online advertising more tol- exchange for giving pub-
erable by flagging sites that lishers favored treatment in
run annoying ads such as search results.
ones that auto-play video “It is troubling that one
with sound. And it's using a company becomes the
big hammer: Chrome will regulator here for others,”
start blocking all ads — in- Boyle said. “But they have
cluding Google's own — on the market power to kind of
offending sites if they don't This July 19, 2016, file photo shows the Google logo at the company's headquarters in Mountain dictate.”
View, Calif.
reform themselves. Associated Press Google will phase in
There's some irony in that, the restrictions in com-
given that Google's aim is ing market; together they criticized by a group called has appointed itself a glob- ing months, and disputes
partly to convince people accounted for over 63 per- the Coalition for Better Ads, al police officer that will would go through the co-
to turn off their own ad- cent of the $83 billion spent whose members include turn the standards into de alition, not Google. Users
blocking software. These on digital ads in the U.S. last Google, Facebook, News facto law. on sites where Chrome has
popular browser add-ons year, according to eMar- Corp. and the News Media Critics also note that the blocked ads will see a noti-
deprive publishers (and keter. Google is also virtu- Alliance, which represents standards conspicuously fication and can opt to al-
Google) of revenue by pre- ally synonymous with online 2,000 newspapers in the exempt one of Google’s low the ads if they want.
venting ads from display- search, and Chrome is the U.S. and Canada. Among one most significant forms Website publishers have
ing. most popular browser on those blackballed formats of advertising — so-called had months to prepare, yet
Google vice president Ra- the web, with a roughly 60 are pop-ups, large ads that pre-roll video ads, which many are still running afoul
hul Roy-Chowdhury wrote percent market share . hover above the page, run before videos on of the new standards. Ac-
in a blog post that the com- To critics, Google's move and ads that flash with Google’s YouTube. cording to a recent search
pany aims to keep the web looks less like a neighbor- bright background colors. Accusations of self-deal- of Google’s Ad Experience
healthy by "filtering out dis- hood cleanup than an But those standards were ing have long haunted Report , 1,408 sites had
ruptive ad experiences." assertion of dominance intended to be voluntary, Google. Last June, Euro- “warning” or “failing” sta-
But the company's motives — and maybe even a said Paul Boyle, senior vice pean Union regulators hit tus. Some were targeted
and methods are both crackdown on its competi- president of public policy it with a 2.4 billion euro ($3 to have their ads to be shut
under attack. Along with tors. Start with what Google for the newspaper alliance billion) fine for unfairly di- down Thursday. A number
Facebook, Google domi- is targeting. Its effort fo- that helped create them. recting search results to its of porn sites also appeared.
nates the online-advertis- cuses on 12 ad formats Instead, he said, Google own shopping listings, from q

Organizers looking into 'possible

attack' on internet, Wi-Fi

were investigating the out- not disrupted any events." about 80 kilometers (50
age that occurred Friday South Korea's Yonhap news miles) from the border be-
night. agency reported that serv- tween North and South
"It didn't affect the open- ers were shut down to pre- Korea, countries that tech-
ing ceremony," Park said. vent damage to technical nically have been at war
"It went as planned. We just systems, causing problems since an armistice in 1953.
had some issue with our in- with the Pyeongchang An International Olym-
Fireworks explode over the opening ceremony of the 2018 Win- ternal system." Olympic website. pic Committee spokes-
ter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, Friday, Feb. 9, 2018. Park said Saturday that the The opening ceremony man said drones that were
Associated Press systems had been "normal- was attended by several scheduled to be used in the
ized" without giving de- heads of state and includ- opening ceremony were
By STEPHEN WADE place about 45 minutes tails. She earlier declined ed North Korea's ceremo- not deployed. Spokes-
PYEONGCHANG, South Ko- before the opening cer- to speculate on the cause nial leader, Kim Yong Nam, man Mark Adams called
rea (AP) — Pyeongchang emony. and said she did not want and the sister of North Ko- it an "impromptu logisti-
Olympic organizers are in- Organizing committee to call it a cyberattack. rean leader Kim Jong Un. cal change" and did not
vestigating a possible at- spokeswoman Nancy Park In a statement, organizers Also on hand was U.S. Vice say whether it was related
tack on their internet and said the defense ministry issued an apology "to all President Mike Pence. to the Wi-Fi and internet
Wi-Fi systems that took and a cybersecurity team those affected. These have The games are being held outage.q