Google Removes Two Chrome Extensions Amid Ad Uproar - Digits - WSJ

Extension mutation

"Google updated its policies in December to prevent software developers from using extensions to insert advertising on more than one part of a page. A form of malware called adware injects ads on multiple spots of a web page, including places ads don’t normally exist, for example on Google’s sparse home page. Google says extensions must have “a single purpose,” and be “narrow and easy-to-understand.”

While “Add to Feedly” and “Tweet This Page” had small numbers of users, their kind of situation could be more pervasive: The owners of far more popular extensions say they have been offered money to incorporate ad code into their extensions."

Google Removes Two Chrome Extensions Amid Ad Uproar - Digits - WSJ