The Verge reports on an announcement by Alphabet subsidiary Google that, beginning in January, it will change the way Web sites are ranked in results from its search engine. Sites featuring pop-up windows or interstitial adverts may appear lower in the results than they now do.
According to an Alphabet press release, 90% of Google's revenues during the first quarter of 2016 came from advertising.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 24 2016, @06:46PM
So to me it's a good thing if Google can convince enough sites to stop doing stupid shit with ads and popups, or drop them so far in the search results that most "normal folk" still won't bother to install adblockers. That way ads can remain a decent source of $$$$$ to keep much of the web alive.
Then I can continue using adblockers and everyone (people like me, normal users, advertisers and Google) is happy ;).
Like it or not, somebody has got to pay for the stuff. And I'd prefer if others do most of the paying.
A while back I notice that an ad running on Chrome used an extra 25W on my computer. So ads can cost you in terms of loading time, bandwidth, exposure to malware AND increased power consumption.