Google Tackles Notification Overload
Google Chrome is taking decisive action against notification fatigue by automatically silencing alerts from websites users rarely engage with. This new feature, rolling out to Chrome on Android and desktop, targets low-engagement sites that bombard users with pop-ups they largely ignore.
How the Auto-Revocation Works
The system builds upon Chrome’s existing Safety Check feature, which already rescinds camera and location permissions from inactive sites. Now, notification permissions will be revoked automatically for websites where user interaction is minimal and notification volume is high. Google’s internal data reveals that less than 1% of notifications receive any user interaction, highlighting the scale of the problem.
Preserving Useful Alerts While Cutting Spam
Google emphasizes that not all notifications will be silenced. The company told The Verge that installed web apps will retain their notification privileges, and users can manually restore permissions for any site. This targeted approach aims to pressure spam-heavy websites to reduce alert frequency while preserving genuinely useful notifications.
User Control and Industry Context
Users maintain full control over this feature. Chrome will notify them when permissions are revoked and provide options to:
- Re-enable notifications for specific sites
- Completely disable the auto-revocation system
This move follows similar industry efforts, including Apple’s notification management system introduced in iOS 15, which allows users to mute notifications or receive them in daily summaries. Google’s testing showed that removing these low-engagement notifications didn’t significantly impact notification click-through rates, confirming most users weren’t interacting with them anyway.
The update represents Google’s acknowledgment that current notification systems need refinement, offering a smarter approach to managing digital interruptions while maintaining user agency over their browsing experience.
