Have you ever been browsing a website and suddenly a video starts auto-playing? It’s usually an advert, and sometimes it’s even at the bottom of the page, so it takes a while to find and mute. It’s annoying, loud, and uninvited!
There’s some good news from Google – there’s a new update to the Google Chrome browser coming that will allow you to completely block the audio on auto-played videos.
This update is only useful if you are using Chrome to browse the internet, so if you use another browse like Firefox or Microsoft Edge (Internet Explorer) then you’ll either have to switch to Chrome or put up with the videos until the other browsers catch up! To use the feature (once you’ve updated to the latest version of Chrome), click the green ‘lock’ icon next to the address bar. In the drop-down menu next to the sound icon, select “Always block on this site.”
Web users are getting more and more frustrated with intrusive ads that pop up all over the place. According to Google, 1 in 5 of all customers who submit feedback complain about some kind of unwanted or intrusive advertising. Giving users the ability to block the sound on annoying videos is one way that they are fighting back against bad ad practices.
It’s one small change, but for anyone who is frequently bothered by hidden auto-playing videos, it will make a big difference!
