Google Chrome will roll out an anti-abusive notification tool on July 14

Google introduced earlier this year a new user experience called quieter notifications UI to Chrome that made notification requests less intrusive on desktops and mobile devices. Now, the company is expanding that capability to websites sending abusive notifications to users.

The search giant announced today that it will launch a new anti-abusive notification system on July 14 when the stable version of Chrome 84 is released. That means the future version of Chrome will automatically list websites with abusive permission requests or notifications in its quieter notifications UI. Users will then see a prompt warning them that the site may contain a misleading notification.

PJ McLachlan, Web Platform Product Manager for Chrome, explained these types of notifications in a blog post:

"Permission request issues are requests designed to mislead, trick, or force users into allowing notifications. One example of this is websites that require users to allow notifications in order to gain access to site content or that are preceded by misleading pre-prompts.

"Notification issues include fake messages that resemble chat messages, warnings, or system dialogs. They also include phishing attacks, an abusive tactic that tries to steal or trick users into sharing personal information, and malware notifications that promote or link to malicious software."

That said, the tool only affects new abusive notifications and does not provide protection to users who have already allowed notification permissions from sites that abuse notifications. Nonetheless, Google vows to add that kind of protection in the future.

Owners of websites with abusive notifications will receive an email 30 days before this system is enforced to give them time to improve the site experience for users. Google has also published a guide to fix these abusive prompts and submit a site for another review after addressing those issues.