Tired of the sudden videos and pop-ups that open up when you click on your favorite website? You are not alone. According to reports, the latest revamp of Google’s Chrome web browser will enable users to permanently mute websites containing autoplay videos.
Certain videos tend to pop-up while browsing. These start playing immediately without the user pressing the ‘play’ button. Often these videos play with audio on.
This has been flagged as a cause of concern by many. Involuntary audio can be disturbing, especially when a user is browsing at a public library, office, meeting or other such situations where others are likely to be disturbed.
With the new version of Chrome, available on Windows, Mac, and Linux – Chrome 64, lets users permanently mute such websites that autoplay videos.
To mute a site that automatically plays videos, click the ‘View Site Information’ symbol appearing on the left-hand edge of the omnibar – the address bar combined with the Google search box.
After this, select the ‘Sound’ option. Once the website is muted, it will not automatically play videos with sound again until manually un-muted once more.
Chrome 64 is also reportedly tackling the issue of cleverly-disguised links and popups. The browser will prevent sites from tricking users into opening new windows or tabs by disguising links to third-party websites.
Such pop-ups often appear on the host site as Play or Close symbols. Upon clicking them, users are redirected to other websites.
Taking cognizance of this, Google said the function will be available to users over the coming days and weeks.
The tech giant further noted that a home-built ad-blocker will be installed on Chrome that will automatically prevent several “annoying” and “intrusive” types of ads from appearing online.
This feature, the report says, will go live on February 15.