Google Chrome Will Block Notifications From ‘Disruptive’ Websites

Last Updated on June 3, 2022 by Anu Joy

Google is attempting to reduce the number of unwanted Chrome notifications you receive by banning notifications from websites it deems “disruptive.” Notifications on Google Chrome may be a mess at times, and practically every website you visit today tries to get you to sign up for notifications or ask for needless cookie permissions.

In recent years, Google has made progress on this issue, “quieting” the notification prompt from websites that abuse notifications or seek permission in an untruthful manner. When a site is silenced in this way, Chrome notifies you that the site may be attempting to deceive you. To fight the problem of spam notifications, the company is now adjusting its tactics.

Chrome will soon be able to instantly remove a website’s permission to send alerts and reject any future requests for the permission, due to a new code modification. This will only work if you’ve unintentionally authorised alerts from a malicious website; Chrome will intervene and disable the notifications. This shouldn’t affect most websites; only those that Google has deemed “disruptive” should be affected.

The problem today is that Google will play a bigger role in monitoring and moderating the internet. Furthermore, the company has not stated how they would determine whether a website is “disruptive” and how they will deal with overstepping.

The company’s argument is that these types of obnoxious notifications are in breach of the company’s “Developer Terms of Service”, which state that Google APIs should not be used to send spam of any kind. Websites that do deliver notifications do so without relying on a Google-developed mechanism. A Google spokesperson stressed the importance of protecting Chrome users from the different forms of spam that are prevalent on the internet in a statement.

The statement reads “Notification spam is one of the top complaint reports we receive from Chrome users. This feature is focused on addressing this problem by ensuring users are only receiving relevant notifications. We see this work as acting on behalf of users to protect their interests, and is an intervention that is under user control and discretion”. This initiative is only getting started, so expect to hear more about it in the coming months.