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Here’s how Chrome is quietly tackling annoying website notification spam

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Why This Matters

Chrome's latest updates significantly enhance user control over website notifications by automatically revoking permissions from inactive or abusive sites and limiting their messaging capabilities. These measures help reduce unwanted alerts, improving the browsing experience and addressing privacy concerns for consumers. The integration of automatic safeguards and user-friendly options demonstrates Google's commitment to making web notifications less intrusive and more manageable.

Key Takeaways

Mishaal Rahman / Android Authority

TL;DR Chrome can revoke notification permissions from inactive or abusive websites and limit heavy senders.

Google says these protections have significantly reduced the volume of unwanted notifications and background activity.

Android’s one-tap unsubscribe and Chrome 155’s redesigned permission prompt add more control over website notifications.

Website notifications can be useful, but it’s easy for a single “Allow” tap to turn into a steady stream of unwanted alerts. According to Google, Chrome has significantly reduced that abuse through a combination of protections that can block problematic sites and limit how many notifications they send.

Chrome can automatically revoke notification permissions from websites you haven’t recently used and remove access from sites that repeatedly trigger warnings for suspicious notifications. Even better, you can review and restore those permissions if you still want notifications from a particular site.

Google has been building these protections for years. Chrome’s Safety Check gained automatic removal of unused permissions in 2023, while a 2024 update added a one-tap Unsubscribe option for unwanted website notifications on Android. Google said the latter reduced notification volume by 30% on supported Pixel devices.

Google is now detailing how those protections work alongside its other safeguards. Chrome can identify groups of websites that coordinate abusive notification campaigns and revoke their notification access. At the delivery level, Google can also throttle disruptive websites through Firebase Cloud Messaging, limiting them to 1,000 messages per minute. Repeat offenders can face tighter limits.

Google

For most people, this should mean fewer notifications from sites that don’t deserve your attention. Much of the work happens automatically, so there’s no new setting you need to enable.

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