This is what users are asking for, after all

Apr 20, 2017 09:27 GMT  ·  By

Rumor has it that Google might be working on developing its very on ad blocker for Chrome browser, and although at first glance this doesn’t make any sense since Google itself is making a fortune out of ads, it all comes down to a very complex strategy that makes the search giant the big winner of this.

In just a few words, Google Chrome’s new built-in ad-blocker could allow the Mountain View-based company to stop paying companies like Adblock Plus for whitelisting its ads, while at the same time offering users an advanced solution to benefit from a clean browsing experience.

Only the most annoying ads would be blocked, according to existing speculation, and with Chrome holding a 60 percent market share on the PC, more than half of the users out there would at least give this ad blocker a try.

Microsoft Edge and the ad blockers

Microsoft Edge is one of the newest names in the browser wars, as Microsoft replaced Internet Explorer with a new browser in Windows 10 in an attempt to provide users with a more advanced solution that’s integrated by default into the operating system.

Adoption of Edge, however, is stagnating, partially due to the fact that the browser is only available in Windows 10, and new features are only delivered with big OS releases, which typically arrive twice every year.

Until now, however, Microsoft has ignored one of the top requests for Edge: a built-in ad blocker that would help provide a cleaner browsing experience. While ad blockers are already available on Edge as third-party extensions, just like they are on Chrome, users are requesting a built-in solution that wouldn’t affect system performance or browsing speed, which is exactly what Google is aiming for with its new solution.

Should Microsoft follow in Google’s footsteps and introduce an ad blocker in Edge browser? Probably, especially because in addition to offering innovating features, like web annotations and Cortana integration, Microsoft also needs to provide users with the essential tools that are already available on rival browsers.

And unfortunately, some of these features are still missing, though it’s hard to find a reason for this. For example, a dedicated full-screen mode is not yet implemented in Edge and there’s a good chance it won’t land until the Redstone 3 OS update lands in the fall.