Read web articles more CLEARLY. Evernote’s Chrome extension will let you get to what’s important.

Ever wonder what it would be like if you could read blogs and web articles with the distractions of advertising all over the page?  There’s a Google Chrome extension that will do just that.

A brief video showing what Clearly does: Evernote Clearly

Here’s a sample of what an original blog post would look like compared to one viewed with Clearly installed:

vs.

This is bound to cause some controversy as valuable advertising space on the side of blogs and for-pay journals may be turned upside down.  If given the option, it’s hard to imagine that people would choose to read articles without the extension enabled.  Classroom computers with Chrome and Clearly would help teachers keep their students on track.  Students might even be motivated enough to use this at home!

Clicking on the reading lamp icon next to the address bar will let you “view this page in Clearly,” removing the sidebar, header, and footer advertising and placing the text on a neutral mat.  Built-in theme options include “newsprint,” “notable,” and “nightowl” and also offer three text sizing options.

Graphic/Web designers often work to reduce the cognitive load placed on viewers, and this places more control in the hands of the viewer.  Smart advertising placed on blogs and web pages often fit into the color scheme and styling of a blog or website, but this literally cuts the fat out without too much effort.

The tool apparently works best on pages with a single article or blog post, but can also change a multi-page article into a single easy-to-read page.  There are similar tools out there for the job (Readability and Instapaper come to mind) but this is a clean, simple way to view blogs and articles clearly.