When I first wrote about the changes coming to Chrome and Safari in the Adtech arena, I noted that some observers were worried that Google’s changes gave them too much power and could be abused. It turns out that they were right to worry.
The Intercept_ article linked above reveals what’s really going on. You really should read the whole thing but the TL;DR is that this is a Google strategy to first crush their competition by blocking their ads and second to do away with third party ad blockers, at least in Chrome. As I say, you should read the whole thing.
I’ve never been a big fan of Chrome—preferring to stick with Safari—so this doesn’t affect me one way or the other but Chrome is arguably the most popular browser so it does affect a lot of people. The Intercept_ article speculates that the DOJ could get involved if Google tries to push this too far. And, of course, the EU tends to be more aggressive about policing this sort of thing. It will be interesting to see what happens.