Google shows how it fights apps that insert unwanted web ads
It's bad enough when apps add unwanted toolbars and buttons in your browser, but it's especially irksome when they inject ads. It's no fun to have a technical support scam interrupt your web reading, after all. Google clearly hates this rogue software as much as you do, though, as it just outlined what it's doing to fight ad injectors. In Chrome, the company's tougher extension rules and malware blockers theoretically prevent code from inserting ads without your say-so. Google is also refining its techniques for catching bad extensions, and its AdWords policies prevent advertisers from offering shady downloads.
Of course, these aren't bulletproof techniques. There are other ways of imposing ads (such as malware), and these approaches won't help you if you're either running a non-Chrome browser or install software from outfits that don't use Google's ad system. No matter what, it's apparent that something needs to be done. Google has teased a report on ad injectors due to be released in May, and it notes that over 5 percent of visitors to its sites have these scummy programs installed -- knowing Google's size, that's a lot of victims.
