Come on, admit it. You like seeing banner ads on your favorite web pages, because they provide a nice break from reading text. If you're honest about this feeling, there's a new extension for you.

[1]AdBoost is an extension for Chromium-based web browsers that adds more ads to websites, something of a departure from the many ad blocking extensions that exist.

Generally, when extensions inject ads, that's the result of malware, or to use Google's prior litigation-shy language, "unwanted software," a term that has since evolved into the even more timid phrase "potentially unwanted programs."

[2]

"Ad injectors are programs that insert new ads, or replace existing ones, into the pages you visit while browsing the web," Google [3]said back on March 31, 2015. "We've received more than 100,000 complaints from Chrome users about ad injection since the beginning of 2015 – more than network errors, performance problems, or any other issue."

[4]

[5]

But AdBoost can't be unwanted software if you make the effort to download the code from Taylor Troesh's GitHub repo and then go through the process of installing it in developer mode – the extension is not available in the Chrome Web Store. Troesh said he's in the process of submitting it, but doubts Google will approve it.

Troesh, who describes himself as "[self-proclaimed] mayor of [6]taylor.town ," had this to say when asked about his ad-proliferation extension.

[7]

"We need more ads because advertisers desperately need our attention and money," he quipped in an email to The Register . "If we don't feed the advertisers, then we'll be forced to pay artists for their creative work."

AdBoost won't get anyone paid. It's apparent from AdBoost's code that the extension's ad supply is not fetched from an ad server. The [8]ads are hardcoded and are clearly intended for provocation rather than promotion. With ad copy like "Insurance Insurance. Protect yourself against loss of insurance for $3500/month," the subversive intent is delightfully obvious.

[9]McDonald's is not lovin' your bigmac, happymeal, and mcnuggets passwords

[10]Oracle predicts investors poised to pump $50 billion into its cloud this year alone

[11]AI security startup CEO posts a job. Deepfake candidate applies, inner turmoil ensues.

[12]Ex-Googler nailed for stealing AI secrets for Chinese startups

Troesh offered a more serious answer as to his motivation for the project.

"It's hard to explain, but this world we inhabit is brimming with magic," he explained. "This magic is caused by your brain's tendency to ignore repetition/patterns. Your brain simply accepts that electricity lives in sockets, that fantasy books make you feel something, that computers compute, that sunsets will happen tomorrow and tomorrow.

"Corporations wield such dark magic against you; they want you to believe that their advertisements are necessary and/or inevitable. We accept this because it's 'the way things work.'

[13]

"All magic evaporates under scrutiny; to break a spell, just notice that a pattern exists. 'Your tongue cannot find a comfortable spot in your mouth', 'you can always see your nose', and so on. Your brain rejects magic when it distrusts a pattern. The cheapest way to interrupt magic en masse is to disrupt patterns via absurdity."

Troesh has been doing that on his blog with essays like " [14]Please Sell My Personal Information " and " [15]How to be a -10x Engineer ."

"I hope AdBoost reminds you that the Internet runs on magic, and that you have been creating the magic all along," he said.

You probably don't want to see more ads in your browser, but magic may have some appeal. ®

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[1] https://github.com/surprisetalk/AdBoost

[2] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2aYEsjwQAU4P7GIN-xSBHgAAAAVg&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0

[3] https://security.googleblog.com/2015/03/out-with-unwanted-ad-injectors.html

[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aYEsjwQAU4P7GIN-xSBHgAAAAVg&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0

[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33aYEsjwQAU4P7GIN-xSBHgAAAAVg&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0

[6] https://taylor.town/

[7] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aYEsjwQAU4P7GIN-xSBHgAAAAVg&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0

[8] https://github.com/surprisetalk/AdBoost/blob/main/content.js

[9] https://www.theregister.com/2026/02/02/mcdonalds_password_advice/

[10] https://www.theregister.com/2026/02/02/oracle_cloud_expansion_investment_plan/

[11] https://www.theregister.com/2026/02/01/ai_security_startup_ceo_posts/

[12] https://www.theregister.com/2026/01/30/google_engineer_convicted_ai_secrets_china/

[13] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33aYEsjwQAU4P7GIN-xSBHgAAAAVg&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0

[14] https://taylor.town/please-sell-my-personal-information

[15] https://taylor.town/-10x

[16] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/