This extension is based on UbO (re: the article), but goes further ... http://www.theregister.co.uk/2017/01/05/adnauseam_expelled_from_chrome_web_store/ Google declares it malware.
Their tactic could arguably be described as click fraud (although they don't get any income by doing it) so this might be a reason that their extension got banned.
Perhaps they should consider creating a dedicated, distributed, web advertising security/privacy threat scanner. Something that retrieves/analyzes ads and related content/scripts. They would, of course, need to click through in order to assess the dangers of that process and what lies on the other side. The information gathered could be very helpful to those who create/maintain protective tools and lists. If they used a threat scoring system they could even publish informative lists such as "Top N websites with the highest web advertising threat scores", "Top N brands with the highest web advertising threat scores", etc.
I think it is the ONLY reason. Google bans any clicks on ads performed by software. When there is a mouse action (move & click) or screen touch detected, it is considered user directed. It makes sense, otherwise their analytics becomes suspect.
