The Brave browser blocks all ads and web software that tracks your online behavior, and Firefox has made it easier to block trackers, too.ĬNET Magazine: Check out a sample of the stories in CNET's newsstand edition. Last year, Apple's Safari started blocking most autoplay videos if they used sound. This year, Chrome also began blocking ads on some websites if Google judges the sites to be using too many. There are several other examples of browsers stepping in on behalf of users. The result is a web that should be less annoying - but also one where advertising-funded sites have a harder time with their businesses. The autoplay blocking is an example of how browsers are getting more assertive on behalf of users faced with pushy websites.

'As you teach Chrome, you may find that you need to click 'play' every now and then, but overall the new policy blocks about half of unwanted autoplays, so you will have fewer surprises and less unwanted noise when you first arrive at a website,' John Pallett, a Chrome product manager, said in a blog post. Then, as you browse the web, Chrome updates that list as it learns where you play media and where you don't. But the browser doesn't always block autoplay, and on Thursday, Google detailed how Chrome learns which sites to squelch.Ĭhrome begins with a list of more than a thousand sites where Google found that the browser's users typically played audio or video with sound. When Google released Chrome 66 in April, it clamped down on lots of websites that tried to play video and audio automatically.

Google chrome autoplay video blocker