Block Bloated Web Ads With These Chrome 80 Hidden Flags
Chrome 80 crashed yesterday and the usual advice can be applied here. If your desktop browser hasn’t been updated yet or you’re not sure, go to its About Google Chrome page by clicking the three-dot icon in the upper-right corner of your Windows browser or Chrome on a Mac browser.
Chrome 80 comes with new features, including a big change that prevents sites from bombarding you with spam notification requests, which can now be hidden by default under a button in the omnibar. To enable it, you first need to enter chrome: // flags into your omnibar and then search for “ Quieter notification permission requests “. Turn this flag on, restart your browser, and then open Settings> Site Settings (under Privacy & Security) > Notifications . Turn on Use Quieter Messaging to stop annoying notification prompts.
Google is also slowly working to get rid of mixed HTTPS content by automatically updating audio and video content to HTTPS where possible. In other words, sites will not be able to load a hybrid of secure HTTPS and less secure HTTP content; if audio and video cannot be loaded over HTTPS, Chrome will block them by default. You don’t need to set a flag for this; it’s just for your information.
Block crappy ads that use too many system resources
But what I find most interesting are the other two Chrome features that you will also have to enable directly in chrome: // flags . The first, Heavy Ad Intervention , allows you to automatically block any annoying online advertisements that take up too much of your processor or memory resources. For useful hidden features, I’d put this one at the top of my list – assuming you’re not already using an ad blocker.
Get stricter on third-party cookies in your browser
Google is also implementing a new classification system for cookies, blocking cross-site cookies unless they set theirSameSite attribute to No andare made available over HTTPS. And all cookies that are not marked are considered “weak” as they will only work if the domain you are viewing matches the domain of the cookie. At least these are technical details . As for why this is all important, Google changes can help protect against problematic cross-site attacks, as detailed by CookiePro :
“Let’s pretend that you are logged into your bank account through their online portal. Have you ever noticed that on some websites you will stay logged in? This is because of the session cookie – after authenticating, the website set a cookie in your browser, which allows you to stay logged in. When you browse another website, you click a link from a tweet to watch a funny video. Unfortunately, this link can be a Cross Site Request Forgery (XSRF) attack that trick your browser into performing an unwanted action on a login session with your bank.
Prior to SameSite, clicking on an XSRF link performed a transaction by copying a session cookie generated by your bank (which allows you to stay signed in).
After SameSite, the browser will not allow a cookie to be added to an already authenticated website if the link is received from an external site. “
Google is rolling out new third-party cookie handling over the next few weeks, but you can get started in your Chrome 80 browser by opening chrome: // flags and enabling “SameSite by default cookies” and “Cookies without SameSite should be safe “.
While it is possible that this change could take out several of the websites you visit frequently, this change is coming anyway – you just start looking ahead of everyone else.
Organize your crowded tabs
Here’s one bonus feature I’m afraid to start using because I still have too many open tabs. Bring up chrome: // flags and find “Tab Groups”. Turn it on, restart your browser, and now you can right-click any of the tabs to start organizing them into groups. Select “Add to New Group” and then right-click the automatically created colorful tab for you – the group – to name it or change its color.