Is It Culturally Acceptable for Google Employees to Use Ad Blockers at Work?

The cultural acceptance of using ad blockers at work, including for Google employees, can vary based on company policies, team norms, and individual preferences. Generally, large tech companies like Google have specific guidelines regarding software usage, including ad blockers. This article delves into how these factors influence the decision to use ad blockers at work and provides insights into why ad blockers might be particularly useful in certain contexts such as SRE teams working with high latency.

Company Policies

Some companies encourage the use of tools that enhance productivity, while others may restrict certain software that could interfere with internal applications or services. Google, like other tech companies, tends to have specific policies about software usage.

Team Norms

Within teams, there may be informal practices. Some teams might be more lenient about using ad blockers, while others might view it as counterproductive, especially if they work on advertising-related products. For instance, in software engineering roles, the impact of ad blockers on page load times can be significant.

Personal Choice

Ultimately, employees often make personal choices based on their comfort and productivity levels. If ad blockers significantly improve their workflow without violating any policies, they may be more likely to use them. Ad blockers can make a noticeable difference in response times, which is critical for teams dealing with high latency, such as those in Sydney.

Impact on Performance in SRE

For System and Resource Engineers (SRE), ad blockers can significantly improve performance. Ads can slow down web pages, especially when your job is to ensure fast response times. An ad infrastructure might add 8 or 10 round trips to a page load, which can be critical in environments with a high latency of 130 milliseconds from Sydney to the entire world.

Google’s Stance on Ad Blockers

Google is aware that ad blockers exist and sympathizes with the reasons for their use, such as blocking bad ads. In fact, Google is taking a proactive stance by introducing a built-in ad blocker in Chrome, set to go live on February 15th. This demonstrates Google's commitment to improving user experience and addressing the issue of bad ads.

From a business perspective, Google also bans the worst ads from its ad network. These ads are served by third parties and Google does not profit from them. Therefore, there is an incentive to remove these ads beyond the original incentive to ban bad ads. However, there is a caveat: some ad blockers are banned if they request excessive Chrome permissions that could compromise security.

Overall, the cultural acceptability of using ad blockers at work in Google and other companies depends on the specific context of the team and the company's guidelines. Employees should check their team’s culture and any relevant policies to ensure they are making informed and compliant decisions.