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Microsoft to Build Ad-Blocker into its Edge Browser

Microsoft edgeWeb publishers are blocking ad-block users left and right, but app developers are taking a decidedly friendlier stance. First Maxthon, then Asus, and then Opera integrated ad-blocking tech into their web browsers, and now Microsoft is reportedly following suit.

ZDNet reports that Microsoft plans to add ad-blocking features to its next-gen Edge web browser.

Edit: And MS has denied the story, saying that the slide was misinterpreted. (They’re just planning to work with extensions, rather than integrate the tech,)

Released with Windows Ten, Edge is Microsoft’s replacement for Internet Explorer. It has been developing slowly since last year, and this week MS revealed the development roadmap for the Edge at Wednesday’s  Build conference in San Francisco.

Look at item 4 on this slide from a session titled "Microsoft Edge: What’s Next for Microsoft’s New Browser and Web Platform."

ms-edge-slide-2

Extensions are number 1 on that list, with the feature listed as "targeted for next edition," meaning the summer 2016 Anniversary Update (code-named Redstone).

But item 4 on that list, "Build ad blocking features into the browser," is also being targeted for the next edition.

If this feature ships, it will be a much-needed replacement for an Internet Explorer feature called Tracking Protection Lists (TPLs), which added privacy protection into the browser and, as a side-effect, neatly blocked many ads.

You can click on the image to see a larger version.

If this feature ships, it’s going to improve user privacy and security, make for faster-loading web pages and  and less intrusive web browsing, and generally be a boon for users.

But it won’t really have that much of an impact.

Few people use Edge on Windows 10 (it isn’t stable enough), and those that want an ad blocker already have options. All of the major web browsers which support extensions can add an ad-blocking extension, making Microsoft’s announcement little more than a stunt.

Web publishers won’t be too happy, however. Starting with Forbes, Yahoo, and the NYTimes, a growing number of publishers are blocking visitors caught using an ad-block extension. (Some, like Forbes, are having trouble telling the difference.)

Really, though,they’re not responding to any sudden increase in the use of ad blockers as they are to the increased public awareness and press coverage.

Ad blockers have been around for a decade or more, but they really only entered the public debate when Apple made the tech a core feature of iOS 9. That raised public awareness, and inspired any number of developers to start looking at the negative impact ads have on your browsing experience.

It also brought ad blockers to the attention of web publishers, some of which are responding with hostility by blocking users. It remains to be seen, however, whether the publishers will win in the long run.

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Comments


Chris Meadows March 31, 2016 um 4:37 pm

Microsoft is now saying that the slide was misinterpreted—that it doesn’t plan to build an ad-blocker into Edge itself, but will support third-party extensions.

Nate Hoffelder March 31, 2016 um 4:55 pm

Whoops. Thanks.

Web publishers are still pissed, I bet.


Mike Hall March 31, 2016 um 5:02 pm

Few use Windows 10?

Microsoft are saying 270 million users (though that may mean PCs). That’s not a few.

Now if you’d said few use Edge I’d believe you. Been there,tried that, back to Chrome and Adblock Plus (though for some reason my wife uses Edge, but she was using Inrernet Explorer before that so …)

Nate Hoffelder March 31, 2016 um 5:17 pm

That’s what I meant, sure. Yes. Exactly. *blish*


Frank March 31, 2016 um 5:05 pm

Mercury Browser also has built-in ad blocking


Mike Hall March 31, 2016 um 5:58 pm

Regarding publications bocking adblock users, the Telegraph in the UK started to do this and I actually looked into running a script to get round it, but decided that I didn’t care enough (about reading the paper that is, yours is still the only site I’ve white listed). Then they stopped doing so without any explanation, though I assume they found too many people stopped visiting.

They still have a idiotic limitation on the number of free articles you can read each week but this just requires you to delete their cookies every so often (and my regular runs of CCleaner do this anyway).


Shari March 31, 2016 um 6:16 pm

I run adblock plus for many reasons, but the biggest one is security. If a site wants to block me from visiting with my ad-block software on, then I will accomodate them. I also advise all of my clients to run adblock extensions. Here’s a relevant article from January of this year: http://www.extremetech.com/internet/220696-forbes-forces-readers-to-turn-off-ad-blockers-promptly-serves-malware

Nate Hoffelder March 31, 2016 um 7:30 pm

Me, too.


Scott G. Lewis April 1, 2016 um 12:15 am

Edge hasn’t crashed once. Seems extremely stable if a bit under featured.


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