Ad on pages

Question

Today I noticed that in the Chrome web store toolbar in the settings of my extension there is a checkbox called “Behavior of ads” and whose description is “This extension embeds advertising on some third-party websites”.

My questions:

• Can an ad extension add advertisements on a page visited by a user?
• If so, what is an acceptable policy?
• Can the extension replace existing advertisements (although it seems unethical / thieves to me) or should it only create new ones?
• Can I use any ad network or should it be adsense?

thanks

Answer 1

Can an ad extension add advertisements on a page visited by a user?

The fact that the checkbox is checked suggests its acceptability until you declare it, so users are aware of this.

If so, what is an acceptable policy?

I would say that everything that makes it clear to users what you are doing and follows the terms of the advertising network.

Can the extension replace existing advertisements (although it seems unethical / thieves to me) or should it only create new ones?

You must admit that this is unethical, most of the content and applications there cost money, and this deprives publishers. But, as is the case with a large number of extensions, it is considered by the browser as user-defined. Basically, how the website works - users control the client. Ad blockers are the most popular browser extensions, so I doubt the Chrome team will ban the extension that will change ads. Please think about website owners. Adding ads is at least better than replacing them.

Can I use any ad network or should it be adsense?

Anyone I'm sure. Google wants Chrome to be considered completely independent of its services. For this reason, you’ll even see Google various competitors promoted in the Chrome Web Store.

* However * , there is a big caveat here. It is possible that such an advertising insert is prohibited by the advertising network in question. This, of course, is the case with many affiliate links that you cannot just enter your own or change your own link. The argument is that the user will still click on it. Therefore, if you enter ads, the biggest limitation will be your advertising agent, not Chrome.

Answer 2

Can I use any ad network or should it be adsense?

In fact, it may not be adsense. It is specifically mentioned in their program policies :

We currently do not permit the placement of Google ads or AdSense for search ad units through software applications, including but not limited to toolbars, browser extensions, and desktop applications.

I wonder if any advertising agent allows such a thing.

Answer 3

I also had concerns about this, in particular the Chrome app extension called Sentry Bookmark , since it really does great with your bookmarks, it also introduces itself and intercepts ads, replacing it with its own affiliate network.

In particular, when viewing the source code, it turned out to contain a “white list” and a “black list” of sites for intercepting ads during navigation. The user is given the opportunity to refuse advertising in the settings, but he is poorly explained as "marketing" without explaining what he is doing.

I raised issues with Google Chrome, noting abuse. Through contact, I reported that:

"Submitting ads doesn't violate Chrome Web Store policies . The policy requires that ads be displayed in the context of the extension or, if they are on another page, the ads must be outside the normal flow of the page and clearly indicate which extension they are attached to. We believe that advertising is a legitimate way to monetize, but that they should be well-known costs to the internal user. "

So, in this particular case, at least Google considered it as acceptable, oddly enough, both Kaspersky Lab and Microsoft Security Essentials immediately reported this to me as malware and removed the extension.