CAPE TOWN – Google has announced that it will be adding a set of user protections against “abusive experiences” in the next update of its Chrome browser.
(An image depicting an abusive experience. One looks like a play button on a video but sends the user to an unwanted download when clicked. Photo: Google.)
Vivek Sekhar, Product Manager, Google said in a statement: "With Chrome, users are always in control and can disable abusive sites filtering by going to their Chrome Settings. Stronger protections ensure users can interact with their intended content on the web, without abusive experiences getting in the way."
The abusive experiences that the company is referring to are those designed to intentionally mislead and trick users into taking action on the web.
"These protections blocked pop-ups and new window requests from sites with certain abusive experiences like redirecting pages", said Sekhar.
For example, generating fake system messages, automatically redirecting you, or attempt to steal personal information.
Starting in December 2018, Chrome 71 will remove all ads on the small number of sites with persistent abusive experiences.
Site owners can use the Abusive Experiences Report in their Google Search Console to see if their site contains any of these abusive experiences that need to be corrected or removed.
Site owners will have a 30 day window to fix experiences flagged by the Report before Chrome removes ads.
This isn’t the first time that Google has tried to use Chrome to address the problem. Back in July, Chrome 68 would prevent sites from opening new tabs or windows if they were reported for serving abusive experiences.
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An image depicting a an abusive experience. This looks like a close button but instead opens unwanted pop-up windows Photo: Google.)