Don’t you just hate it when you click on a link and it contains a loud ad or video that begins playing on its own? Nobody asked for that, and Google is putting an end to this abhorrence in Chrome soon.
Version 64 of the cross-platform browser, which is slated to arrive in January 2018, will only allow autoplay for videos and ads if there’s no sound, or if you indicate that you want to watch that content. This will apply to both desktop and mobile versions of Chrome.
Ahead of that, you’ll also get an option in Chrome v63 to completely disable audio for specific sites. So if you’re beginning to hate on your preferred national news site or blog because it embarrasses you when you’re browsing in public, you’ll be able to stop that nonsense once and for all this October.
It seems like these features might be part of a larger plan to tackle crappy ads in Chrome; Google noted in June that it intended to block ads that don’t meet its standards for a decent browsing experience. Offenders include pop-ups, autoplaying videos with sound, prestitials with a countdown and large sticky banners that won’t disappear until you interact with them.
Good riddance.
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