Chromium Blog: November 2017

Chromium Blog

News and developments from the open source browser project

Reducing Chrome crashes caused by third-party software

Thursday, November 30, 2017

Update (04/26/2019): Third-party developers can now use this document to evaluate the impact of third-party blocking on their software.Chrome extensionsNative Messaging

In Chrome 66 a warning will be shown to users with third-party software that injects into Chrome.Chrome BetaUpdated 2018-06-21: Third-party software will be blocked from injecting code into Chrome on Windows starting in Chrome 69.

Google

Expanding user protections on the web

Wednesday, November 8, 2017

One of the advantages of the web is that it allows developers to create any type of experience they can imagine, which has led to the rich diversity of content available on the web today. While most content producers are interested in providing excellent experiences for their users, we've found that a small number use the flexibility and power of the web to take advantage of users and redirect them to unintended destinations. 1 out of every 5 feedback reports from Chrome users on desktop mention encountering some type of unwanted content, and we take this feedback seriously when considering how to improve Chrome. Following on from features like Chrome's pop-up blocker and autoplay protections, over the next few releases we'll be rolling out three new protections designed to give users all the web has to offer, but without many of these types of unwanted behaviors.

One piece of feedback we regularly hear from users is that a page will unexpectedly navigate to a new page, for seemingly no reason. We've found that this redirect often comes from third-party content embedded in the page, and the page author didn't intend the redirect to happen at all. To address this, in Chrome 68 all redirects originating from third-party iframes will show an infobar instead of redirecting, unless the user had been interacting with that frame. This will keep the user on the page they were reading, and prevent those surprising redirects.

An example of a redirect being blocked on a test site. The iframes embedded in the site are attempting to navigate the page to an unintended destination, but Chrome prevents the redirect and shows an infobar.

When the user interacts with content, things can also go wrong. One example that causes user frustration is when clicking a link opens the desired destination in a new tab, while the main window navigates to a different, unwanted page. Starting in Chrome 68 we'll also detect this behavior, trigger an infobar, and prevent the main tab from being redirected. This allows the user to continue directly to their intended destination, while also preserving the context of the page they came from.

Finally, there are several other types of abusive experiences that send users to unintended destinations but are hard to automatically detect. These include links to third-party websites disguised as play buttons or other site controls, or transparent overlays on websites that capture all clicks and open new tabs or windows.

Two types of abusive experiences where a deceptive site control appears to do one thing, but has a different behavior when clicked. One looks like a play button on a video but sends the user to an unwanted download when clicked (left), and the other looks like a close button but instead opens unwanted pop-up windows (right).

Similar to how Google Safe Browsing protects users from malicious content, starting in early January Chrome's pop-up blocker will prevent sites with these types of abusive experiences from opening new windows or tabs. To help site owners prepare for this change, today we're also launching the Abusive Experiences Report alongside other similar reports in the Google Search Console. Site owners can use the report to see if any of these abusive experiences have been found on their site and improve their user experience. Otherwise, abusive experiences left unaddressed for 30 days will trigger the prevention of new windows and tabs.

Together, these protections will dramatically improve users' web browsing experiences while still allowing them access to all that the web has to offer.

Posted by Ryan Schoen, Product Manager

Update 2018-06-07: The two protections described above that prevent unwanted redirects and unwanted tabs or windows are now scheduled to be released with Chrome 68. The timeline for expanding Chrome's pop-up blocker remains unchanged, as it already launched in January.

Google

Labels

$200K 1
10th birthday 4
abusive ads 1
abusive notifications 2
accessibility 3
ad blockers 1
ad blocking 2
advanced capabilities 1
android 2
anti abuse 1
anti-deception 1
background periodic sync 1
badging 1
benchmarks 1
beta 83
better ads standards 1
billing 1
birthday 4
blink 2
browser 2
browser interoperability 1
bundles 1
capabilities 6
capable web 1
cds 1
cds18 2
cds2018 1
chrome 35
chrome 81 1
chrome 83 2
chrome 84 2
chrome ads 1
chrome apps 5
Chrome dev 1
chrome dev summit 1
chrome dev summit 2018 1
chrome dev summit 2019 1
chrome developer 1
Chrome Developer Center 1
chrome developer summit 1
chrome devtools 1
Chrome extension 1
chrome extensions 3
Chrome Frame 1
Chrome lite 1
Chrome on Android 2
chrome on ios 1
Chrome on Mac 1
Chrome OS 1
chrome privacy 4
chrome releases 1
chrome security 10
chrome web store 32
chromedevtools 1
chromeframe 3
chromeos 4
chromeos.dev 1
chromium 9
cloud print 1
coalition 1
coalition for better ads 1
contact picker 1
content indexing 1
cookies 1
core web vitals 2
csrf 1
css 1
cumulative layout shift 1
custom tabs 1
dart 8
dashboard 1
Data Saver 3
Data saver desktop extension 1
day 2 1
deceptive installation 1
declarative net request api 1
design 2
developer dashboard 1
Developer Program Policy 2
developer website 1
devtools 13
digital event 1
discoverability 1
DNS-over-HTTPS 4
DoH 4
emoji 1
emscriptem 1
enterprise 1
extensions 27
Fast badging 1
faster web 1
features 1
feedback 2
field data 1
first input delay 1
Follow 1
fonts 1
form controls 1
frameworks 1
fugu 2
fund 1
funding 1
gdd 1
google earth 1
google event 1
google io 2019 1
google web developer 1
googlechrome 12
harmful ads 1
html5 11
HTTP/3 1
HTTPS 4
iframes 1
images 1
incognito 1
insecure forms 1
intent to explain 1
ios 1
ios Chrome 1
issue tracker 3
jank 1
javascript 5
lab data 1
labelling 1
largest contentful paint 1
launch 1
lazy-loading 1
lighthouse 2
linux 2
Lite Mode 2
Lite pages 1
loading interventions 1
loading optimizations 1
lock icon 1
long-tail 1
mac 1
manifest v3 2
metrics 2
microsoft edge 1
mixed forms 1
mobile 2
na 1
native client 8
native file system 1
New Features 5
notifications 1
octane 1
open web 4
origin trials 2
pagespeed insights 1
pagespeedinsights 1
passwords 1
payment handler 1
payment request 1
payments 2
performance 20
performance tools 1
permission UI 1
permissions 1
play store 1
portals 3
prefetching 1
privacy 2
privacy sandbox 4
private prefetch proxy 1
profile guided optimization 1
progressive web apps 2
Project Strobe 1
protection 1
pwa 1
QUIC 1
quieter permissions 1
releases 3
removals 1
rlz 1
root program 1
safe browsing 2
Secure DNS 2
security 36
site isolation 1
slow loading 1
sms receiver 1
spam policy 1
spdy 2
spectre 1
speed 4
ssl 2
store listing 1
strobe 2
subscription pages 1
suspicious site reporter extension 1
TCP 1
the fast and the curious 23
TLS 1
tools 1
tracing 1
transparency 1
trusted web activities 1
twa 2
user agent string 1
user data policy 1
v8 6
video 2
wasm 1
web 1
web apps 1
web assembly 2
web developers 1
web intents 1
web packaging 1
web payments 1
web platform 1
web request api 1
web vitals 1
web.dev 1
web.dev live 1
webapi 1
webassembly 1
webaudio 3
webgl 7
webkit 5
WebM 1
webmaster 1
webp 5
webrtc 6
websockets 5
webtiming 1
writable-files 1
yerba beuna center for the arts 1

Feed

Give us feedback in our Product Forums.

Google
Privacy
Terms

Chromium Blog

Reducing Chrome crashes caused by third-party software

Expanding user protections on the web

Labels

Archive

Feed