If you thought YouTube has become notorious for ads, then get ready for more. Google is now testing a new feature where the New Tab Page on Chrome shows shopping advertisements. These are expected to be based on a user’s browsing activity on Google services. While the feature is not live as of yet, it is being tested on the latest version of Google Chrome Canary on Windows.

chrome ads on new tab page

The feature is not enabled by default and is hidden behind the flags in Canary that can be enabled for an early preview. Chrome currently offers the Google Search bar and shortcuts for your extensions and websites. With the addition of this new feature, one would be able to see ads in a card format sitting right below the shortcuts. Additionally, this new ‘hub’ will also include streaming services, and recipes based on your browsing activity.

How to see the new shopping ads on Chrome New Tab page

  • Download Chrome Canary from here.
  • Launch Canary and in the address bar type chrome://flags to open flags
  • Search the following flags: NTP Modules and NTP Shopping Task Module
  • Enable NTP Modules and select Enabled - Fake Data for the Shopping Task Module
  • Restart the browser to view the changes
chrome canary flags ntp

You should see a shopping ad for chairs that can be further expanded on Google search by tapping on either one of them. You can also dismiss this advertisement card by simply closing it from the top right corner. Note that the ad only shows up when you select the "Fake Data" option and not when you select “Enabled” and “Enable-Real Data”. Similarly, Google is testing Recipes and Kaleidoscope modules for NTP. These can be viewed under “Enforce Kaleidoscope NTP module” and “NTP Recipe Tasks module.” There is also a setting on NTP to disable these cards. This can be done by opening a New Tab Page, click on customize, and then under Cards enable “Hide Cards.”

chrome enable cards on new tab page

This could be a new way for Google to include ads and new content to Chrome by making use of the empty space available on the New Tab page. Of course, flags are just experimental features that Chromium developers use to test new features. One cannot be sure if or when this will actually make it to the stable build.

Story Via: Techdows