Google Chrome: Now With Ads!

By | November 25, 2011 | 32 Comments

Google Chrome: Now With Ads!

In the world where most people block ads and want to get everything for free, Google has decided to try a different approach: in-browser advertising.

Technology blog Ghacks has found an interesting screenshot in the Google’s Plus group, which shows and ad in the Google Chrome web browser, which says: “Get a Chromebook for the holidays: the computer powered by Chrome.“

How did users respond? Opinions appear to be mixed; some people suggest switching to Firefox while others don’t see anything wrong with that, after all, Google Chrome is free.

Whether or not this trend continues, it remains to be seen although we don’t expect for Google to continue running such promotions more than few times a year.

What do you think about in browser advertising?


About (Author Profile)


Vygantas is a former web designer whose projects are used by companies such as AMD, NVIDIA and departed Westood Studios. Being passionate about software, Vygantas began his journalism carrier back in 2007 when he founded FavBrowser.com. Having said that, he is also an adrenaline junkie who enjoys good books, fitness activities and Forex trading.

  • jrk

    Opera did it first!

    • Grrblt

      They also stopped doing it in 2005.

      • http://www.youtube.com/user/max1cp?feature=mhum Maxim

        Yes, Google should have taken that as a hint. Personally I think thats a big mistake on Googles side.

    • Katimwilk

      The difference is that Google is already a multi-billion dollar corporation that specializes in gathering data about you to provide targeted advertising. Opera has never had much money and specializes in creating multi-platform browsers.

      Without ads back in the day, Opera development may not have been as fast, or at all. But Google would still do just fine without inserting ads into Chrome. There is a difference between being ad-supported and just showing ads because you can.

    • Anonymous

      Opera was and is still too small company. That was acceptable.
      Not acceptable with Google though – it’s a huge company generating lots of money from advertising on the Web – wasn’t to enough to “spam” the web with useless ads that now even the browser needs to be “spammed”. 

  • Whyamiusingthis

    Isn’t Google the most ethical company on earth?

    • Tiago Sá

      Hum… They do spy on their users… I doesn’t seem to bother their users… so, yeah, they may be the most ethical company on earth. It certainly doesn’t bother me enough to stop using Gmail, which is, by and large, the best email service around, or google search, also the best. I do choose not to use google-analytics :P

      And Chrome of course. That one’s for simple people.

      • Anonymous

        Who doesn’t?

        At least I am not tracked from point A to B like what Apple had done.

        Oh wait. Turns out Android and Microsoft also track their users.

        Better get a “dumb” phone for the holidays then.

  • Ligmfdgmdflk

    that just means its getting better

    • OctalMan

      huh? how? do the ads make chrome faster??

      • Ligmfdgmdflk

        sarcastically, sadly i had to explain it to you

        • OctalMan

          lol sorry, long day :)

  • Mikah

    Sale figures for the Chromebook must be lousy.

  • Pothi Kalimuthu

    I’m little surprised that they waited so long to show ads. No issues here!

  • Shane Gowland

    People are complaining because an advertising company is showing ads..? Isn’t that obvious?

    • http://twitter.com/bricky149 Shane Bundy

      Mainly because they think Google is just a very popular search engine. History isn’t their brightest subject, you see…

      • http://my.opera.com/rafaelluik Rafael

        A search engine which shows ads…

        • http://twitter.com/bricky149 Shane Bundy

          Only the intelligent ones know that. ;)

  • http://twitter.com/bricky149 Shane Bundy

    By no means do I want to troll, but this is what I have to say to Google:

    HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

    With Chromebook looking like a flop, this is the tip of the advertising iceberg for them.

  • http://aarontoponce.org/ Aaron Toponce

    Opera had in-browser ads. They also had (and still do have) 2% of the browser market share. Just a thought.

    • Mikah

      Only about 2% of the population are rated at gifted to Genius IQ , just a thought.

      • http://my.opera.com/rafaelluik Rafael

        Hahaha, that research was a hoax.
        @openid-17976:disqus perhaps you’re seeing a lot of Opera ads in the Websites you visit? Google homepage? GMail loading screen? Hm, just a though!

        • Mikah

          I know the one you mean , made me laugh.
          However I was not quoting the hoax http://www.highiqpro.com/iq-tests/what-does-my-iq-score-mean  

        • http://my.opera.com/TiRaNiD/about/ TiRANiD

          Yeah, I don’t wanna offend any user of Chrome or IE, but I always thought of Opera users as of people with IQ higher then average. No research – hoax or true – ever influenced my opinion.

          Opera is a little bit tricky when it comes to “tuning up” but when you’re done setting it up you get the most out of the web.

          • http://my.opera.com/rafaelluik Rafael

            Ahh ok… I only do a few changes to the default setup. I’d say the IQ is involved in the fact of getting to know Opera and then use its features. cc/ @1afe8995cd7233567b82b9d8a64c8723:disqus

          • http://my.opera.com/TiRaNiD/about/ TiRANiD

            Well, I don’t know what you mean by “getting to know Opera”, but I guess we’re talking about the same thing but speaking different languages.
            Anyway, it’s not that crucial.

  • http://juegos.octabot.net daPhyre

    WHAT!?

    Personally, I don’t care a lot, I could easily ignore adds, and from time to time, they actually and honestly drag my attention (Not like those “click here and win” horrible adds…).

    But seriously?? I don’t think many will be pleased with that… It’s a very risky movement from Google. Plus, how many Chrome users doesn’t already know about the Chromebook?

    • http://twitter.com/bricky149 Shane Bundy

      About all of them don’t know about Chromebook. I asked those at college who used Chrome and noone had heard of it.

      And most people (if not everyone) know why to avoid one.

  • Armin

    I do hope this encourages more people to buy Chromebooks. They aren’t bad at all.

    • http://twitter.com/bricky149 Shane Bundy

      Chromebooks have a use. Sadly, for most people, it isn’t a useful one.

      Just saying.

  • Greg

    I don’t see a problem with the ad. It’s the only ad I’ve seen in Chrome
    Go Google!

  • http://my.opera.com/greench greench

    Does only Chrome have ads? I think rival developers can develop a branch from Chromium to build an alternative Chrome that is ads-less. 

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