Google is building a new ad-blocker for Chrome that will specifically target ads that use too many system resources.



Chrome is <a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label=" (opens in a new tab)" href="https://www.techradar.com/in/news/im-sick-of-chrome-eating-all-my-ram-its-time-for-me-to-ditch-it-for-firefox-or-even-edge" target="_blank">notoriously RAM-hungry</a>, which can result in sluggish performance but the blame doesn't lie entirely with the browser. Sometimes ads can be responsible for sites slowing to a crawl.



As&nbsp;<a href="https://9to5google.com/2019/10/30/heavy-ad-blocker-chrome/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">9to5Google</a>&nbsp;explains, Chrome's developers are working on a tool that will address this problem by not loading 'heavy ads' that put excessive demands on the user's device.



The tool was first mentioned in <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://chromium-review.googlesource.com/c/chromium/src/+/1675916" target="_blank">a message from a Chromium developer</a>. And Google has now <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://github.com/johnivdel/heavy-ad-intervention/blob/master/README.md#proposed-thresholds" target="_blank">published a short guide</a> explaining it further and defining exactly what is meant by 'heavy'.



According to the guide, ads will be blocked if they use the main processor thread for more than 60 seconds in total. Or use the main thread for more than 15 seconds in any 30-second window, or use more than 4MB network bandwidth to load resources. Blocked ads will be replaced with an error message explaining why Chrome has removed it.



<a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://techdows.com/2019/10/chrome-80-gets-heavy-ad-intervention-feature-in-canary.html" target="_blank">Techdows</a> has also noticed two new flags in <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.google.com/chrome/canary/" target="_blank">Chrome Canary</a>.  It's relating to the 'heavy ad' blocker, which you can enable to try the feature now. However, it's worth bearing in mind that the blocker is still at an experimental stage. It isn't likely to appear in the release version of Chrome for several months. It might not work perfectly yet, and Google might choose to adjust its definition of a 'heavy ad' before then.



<h2 id="you-vs-the-advertisers">You vs the advertisers</h2>



Google faces a tricky dilemma with advertising. It makes up the bulk of the company's income but it can spoil the browsing experience for Chrome users. Particularly when it compromises their privacy or affects browsing speeds.



Google has suggested a way to serve targeted ads to users without monitoring their online activity using tracking cookies (a method it calls a '<a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label=" (opens in a new tab)" href="https://www.techradar.com/in/news/google-wants-chrome-to-feed-you-targeted-ads-while-somehow-respecting-your-privacy" target="_blank">privacy sandbox</a>'). But moving to such a model would require an overhaul of the whole online advertising industry. If any company has the power to bring that about, it's Google, but such a huge change isn't likely to happen any time soon.



For now, Google appears to have resigned itself to tackling the most obtrusive ads. It seems to be experimenting with a tool that will let users <a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label=" (opens in a new tab)" href="https://www.techradar.com/in/news/chrome-is-taking-a-page-out-of-firefoxs-book-and-making-your-privacy-a-priority" target="_blank">block third-party cookies</a>. It's an option that's already enabled by default in rival browsers such as Firefox.



Hopefully this, combined with the 'heavy ad' blocker, will let Google strike a reasonable compromise, improving the experience for its users without putting too large a dent in its ad business.

Google is building a new ad-blocker for Chrome that will specifically target ads that use too many system resources.



Chrome is notoriously RAM...

Chrome is getting a 'heavy ad' blocker to speed up browsing, and you can try it now - TCMHACK

Chrome is getting a 'heavy ad' blocker to speed up browsing, and you can try it now

Google is working on a dark mode for desktop versions of its browsers and its ChromeOS operating system.



For a few months it's been possible to activate a dark mode for Chrome on Android that changes the color of webpages. And according to <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://9to5google.com/2019/07/29/google-chromes-dark-mode-for-the-web-is-coming-to-desktop-and-chrome-os/" target="_blank">9to5Google</a>, that feature will soon become cross-platform.



Currently, it's possible to activate dark mode on Chrome for Android by enabling a 'flag' (an experimental feature) in the browser. This Android-specific flag has now been replaced by one that will work across all platforms.



<h2 id="a-walk-on-the-dark-side">A walk on the dark side</h2>



When Android Q is released (possibly within the next few weeks), it will include&nbsp;<a href="https://www.techradar.com/in/how-to/dark-theme">a system-wide dark theme</a>, which swaps the operating system's default bright white design to something easier on the eyes.



If you've experimented with the dark mode for Android, you may have noticed that it's not quite ready for release yet; some controls are tricky to see with the new colors, and websites are sometimes rendered hard to read where colors are inverted.



With Android Q now imminent, hopefully those issues will be resolved very soon and we'll be able to enjoy browsing the web in dark mode on all our devices.

Google is working on a dark mode for desktop versions of its browsers and its ChromeOS operating system.



For a few months it's been possible t...

Google Chrome for desktop is finally getting a dark mode - TCMHACK

Google Chrome for desktop is finally getting a dark mode

Recently, Google has involved itself in numerous privacy and security changes within Google Chrome. The most important of these was the emphasis on HTTPS for websites. Now, they have announced another strict move in this connection. Google intends to block HTTPS mixed content within their Chrome browser. 



<h2>Google To Block Mixed Content</h2>



Reportedly, Google plans to block mixed content for HTTPS in the future. According to a recent <a href="https://security.googleblog.com/2019/10/no-more-mixed-messages-about-https_3.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="blog post (opens in a new tab)">blog post</a> by the Chrome Security Team, Google will eventually block mixed content entirely within Chrome. This would ensure full HTTPS implementation only.



<h2>What Is Mixed Content</h2>



As explained separately, ‘<a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="Mixed Content (opens in a new tab)" href="https://developers.google.com/web/fundamentals/security/prevent-mixed-content/what-is-mixed-content" target="_blank">Mixed Content</a>’ refers to the type of content on websites using HTTPS where certain elements on the web page load over HTTP.



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote">Mixed content occurs when initial HTML is loaded over a secure HTTPS connection, but other resources (such as images, videos, stylesheets, scripts) are loaded over an insecure HTTP connection. This is called mixed content because both HTTP and HTTPS content are being loaded to display the same page, and the initial request was secure over HTTPS. </blockquote>



<h2>How It Affects Browser Security</h2>



Although, Chrome used to notify users about the presence of such content. It couldn’t protect the users from the potential evils of HTTP content on the web page. Thus, the existence of such content downgrades the extent of security as ensured with full HTTPS sites.



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote">Requesting subresources using the insecure HTTP protocol weakens the security of the entire page, as these requests are vulnerable to man-in-the-middle attacks, where an attacker eavesdrops on a network connection and views or modifies the communication between two parties.</blockquote>



Eventually, the presence of such content could even allow an adversary to take complete control of the affected page. 



Google explained that such content also affects the browser security UX. The browser could neither present it as HTTPS, nor HTTP. 



<h2>Implementation To Happen Gradually </h2>



While Google has announced their plans to ensure no mixed content, it will do so in a number of different steps. Consequently, HTTPS websites with mixed content have enough time to modify the affected pages accordingly. 



As per the disclosed timeline, initially, Google will roll out settings for users to unblock mixed content on sites. This will take place with Chrome 79 releasing in December 2019. 



Then, with Chrome 80, Google will block audio/video resources that fail to load over HTTPS by default. Users would still be able to unblock the content via given settings. However, it will allow the mixed images, where the browser will prompt the site as ‘Not Secure’. 



Finally, with Chrome 81 coming in February 2020, Google will block mixed images as well. 



For convenience, Google has shared detailed guides for <a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="migrating to HTTPS (opens in a new tab)" href="https://developers.google.com/web/fundamentals/security/encrypt-in-transit/enable-https" target="_blank">migrating to HTTPS</a> and <a href="https://developers.google.com/web/fundamentals/security/prevent-mixed-content/fixing-mixed-content" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="preventing mixed content (opens in a new tab)">preventing mixed content</a> as well.

Recently, Google has involved itself in numerous privacy and security changes within Google Chrome. The most important of these was the emphasis ...

Google Plans To Block Mixed Content With HTTPS On Chrome Browser - TCMHACK

Google Plans To Block Mixed Content With HTTPS On Chrome Browser

Google is adding support for native lazy loading to the latest version of the Chrome browser – Chrome 76.



In an <a href="https://web.dev/native-lazy-loading" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label=" (opens in a new tab)">announcement</a>, the company states:



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote">“Starting with Chrome 76, you’ll be able to use the new loading attribute to lazy-load resources without the need to write custom lazy-loading code or use a separate JavaScript library.”</blockquote>



Lazy loading delays the loading of &nbsp;below-the-fold images until the user begins scrolling closer to them.



The end result is faster load times, minimized bandwidth for users, and reduced memory usage.



Previously, in order to take advantage of lazy loading, developers either had to use the Intersection Observer API or implement complicated event handlers.



Now, with lazy loading supported directly within Chrome, developers can add a simple ‘loading’ attribute when embedding images.



Here’s what the code looks when adding the loading attribute to an image and an iframe:



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter"><img src="http://ec2-13-127-91-65.ap-south-1.compute.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/2f84104d-2d77-4279-a2d7-f4f3a461d8bf-1024x137.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-445"/></figure></div>



You don’t even need the expertise of a developer to implement the loading attribute, as long as you have some basic knowledge of HTML. This makes lazy loading accessible to many more site owners.



The loading attribute supports the following values:



<ul><li>auto: Default lazy-loading behavior of the browser, which is the same as not including the attribute.</li><li>lazy: Defer loading of the resource until it reaches a calculated distance from the viewport.</li><li>eager: Load the resource immediately, regardless of where it’s located on the page.</li></ul>



This feature will continue to be updated until the stable version of Chrome 76 is released.



The old method of implementing lazy loading via JavaScript is still required for browsers that do not support the new ‘loading’ attribute.

Google is adding support for native lazy loading to the latest version of the Chrome browser – Chrome 76.



In an announcement, the company stat...

Google Chrome Will Soon Support Lazy Loading at the Browser-Level - TCMHACK

Google Chrome Will Soon Support Lazy Loading at the Browser-Level

<a href="https://www.google.com/chrome/">Google Chrome</a>&nbsp;is the most widely used web browser in the world. It is fast, easy to use and secure browser built for the modern web.



Chrome is not an open source browser and it is not included in the Ubuntu repositories. Google Chrome is based on&nbsp;<a href="https://www.chromium.org/">Chromium</a>, an open-source browser which is available in the default Ubuntu repositories.



In this tutorial, we’ll show you how to install Google Chrome web browser on Ubuntu 18.04. The same instructions apply for Ubuntu 16.04 and any other Debian based distribution, including Debian, Linux Mint and Elementary OS.



<h2 id="prerequisites">Prerequisites</h2>



Before continuing with this tutorial, make sure you are logged in as a user with sudo privileges.



<h2 id="installing-google-chrome-on-ubuntu">Installing Google Chrome on Ubuntu</h2>



To install Google Chrome on your Ubuntu system, follow these steps:



<h3 id="1-download-google-chrome">1. Download Google Chrome</h3>



Open your terminal either by using the&nbsp;<code>Ctrl+Alt+T</code>&nbsp;keyboard shortcut or by clicking on the terminal icon.



Download the latest Google Chrome <code>.deb</code> package with wget:



<pre class="wp-block-code"><code>wget https://dl.google.com/linux/direct/google-chrome-stable_current_amd64.deb</code></pre>



<h3 id="2-install-google-chrome">2. Install Google Chrome</h3>



Installing packages on Ubuntu requires sudo privileges. Make sure you are running the following command as a user with sudo privileges.



Install the Google Chrome&nbsp;<code>.deb</code>&nbsp;package by typing:



<pre class="wp-block-code"><code>sudo dpkg -i google-chrome-stable_current_amd64.deb</code></pre>



You will be asked to enter your user password. The output should look something like the following:



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img src="http://ec2-13-127-91-65.ap-south-1.compute.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/ubuntu-install-google-chrome-1024x214.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-412"/></figure>



<h2 id="starting-google-chrome">Starting Google Chrome</h2>



Now that Google Chrome is installed on your Ubuntu system you can start it either from the command line by typing&nbsp;<code>google-chrome</code>&nbsp;or by clicking on the Google Chrome icon (<code>Activities -&gt; Google Chrome</code>):



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img src="http://ec2-13-127-91-65.ap-south-1.compute.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/ubuntu-open-google-chome-1024x768.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-413"/></figure>



When you start Google Chrome for the first time, a window like the following will appear asking if you want to make Google Chrome your default browser and to send usage statistic and crash reports to Google:



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img src="http://ec2-13-127-91-65.ap-south-1.compute.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/ubuntu-google-chome-default-browser-1024x768.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-414"/></figure>



Select according to your preference, and click&nbsp;<code>OK</code>&nbsp;to proceed.



Google Chrome will open and you’ll see the default Chrome welcome page.



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img src="http://ec2-13-127-91-65.ap-south-1.compute.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/ubuntu-google-chome-welcome-page-1024x768.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-415"/></figure>



From here you can sign-in to Chrome with your Google Account to sync your bookmarks, history, passwords and other settings on all your devices.



<h2 id="updating-google-chrome">Updating Google Chrome</h2>



During the installation process, the official Google repository will be added to your system. You can use the cat command to verify the file contents:



<pre class="wp-block-code"><code>cat /etc/apt/sources.list.d/google-chrome.list</code></pre>



<pre class="wp-block-code"><code>### THIS FILE IS AUTOMATICALLY CONFIGURED ###
# You may comment out this entry, but any other modifications may be lost.
deb [arch=amd64] http://dl.google.com/linux/chrome/deb/ stable main</code></pre>



This ensures that your Google Chrome installation will be updated automatically when a new version is released through your desktop standard Software Update tool.



<h2 id="conclusion">Conclusion</h2>



In this tutorial, we’ve shown you how to install Google Chrome on your Ubuntu 18.04 desktop machine.



If you’ve previously used a different browser, like Firefox, Chromium or Opera, you can import your bookmarks and settings into Chrome.



Feel free to leave a comment below.

Google Chrome&nbsp;is the most widely used web browser in the world. It is fast, easy to use and secure browser built for the modern web.



Chro...

How to Install Google Chrome Web Browser on Ubuntu 18.04 - TCMHACK

How to Install Google Chrome Web Browser on Ubuntu 18.04

Adobe Flash is going away in 2020; better, support for Adobe Flash ends in 2020. Adobe won't support Flash anymore, and all major browser makers revealed plans to retire Flash in their browsers.



While that means that most browsers won't support Flash content anymore and that there won't be any more updates for Flash, it does not really mean that all Flash content on the Internet is suddenly going away. A Flash Games Preservation project aims to archive Flash games and make them available in a dedicated application so that users may still play them.



Google targets Chrome 87 as the target release for Flash removal in the web browser. While there is still a good 18 month until that deadline, things are going to get more annoying soon in regards to Flash.



More annoying, because Google tightened the Flash use screws already in Chrome 69. The browser, released in August 2018, changed the Flash permissions system from a permanent state to a session-only state.



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img src="http://ec2-13-127-91-65.ap-south-1.compute.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/flash-player-will-no-longer-be-supported-1024x393.png" alt="" class="wp-image-356"/></figure>



Starting in Chrome 76, out July 2019, Flash is set to block by default. Chrome will still support Flash at this point, and it is even possible to switch the Flash setting to Ask First again, but that leads to a new problem for users who have set Flash to Ask First: Chrome displays a Flash deprecation warning on start if Ask First is set. The message states "Flash Player will no longer be supported after December 2020". The learn more link leads to the "Saying goodbye to Flash in Chrome" post from 2017.



The notification may display for a while or just flash for a brief moment. Considering that this is being tested in Chrome Canary currently, it seems likely that Google is still testing the new notification and system before it reaches the stable channel.



There is no option to disable the notification in Chrome (other than blocking Flash).



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img src="http://ec2-13-127-91-65.ap-south-1.compute.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/flash-settings-chrome-1024x448.png" alt="" class="wp-image-357"/></figure>



To summarize: starting with Chrome 76, Flash is blocked by default. Users may still enable Flash by loading&nbsp;chrome://settings/content/flash&nbsp;and setting the technology to Ask First.



Any site permission given during a session is not saved anymore if it is a Flash permission, and it is discarded when the browser is closed. You may run Flash content then in different ways, e.g. by clicking on the "click to play" area of the Flash element to display a "site wants to Run Flash" prompt which you need to allow, or by adding the site to the allow list for Flash (which Chrome will remove when you close the browser).



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img src="http://ec2-13-127-91-65.ap-south-1.compute.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Screenshot-20.png" alt="" class="wp-image-359"/></figure>



The easiest method to do the latter is to click on the icon in front of the URL, select Site Settings, and set Flash to allow on the page that opens. Things get a bit easier on consecutive sessions as you find the Flash control attached to the initial prompt when you click on the icon in front of the URL.



Note: Some video download extensions may not work properly anymore in Chrome until you enable Flash.



Google is not the only company that is making Flash use more annoying. Mozilla disabled Flash in Firefox 69 by default for users who still have it installed on their systems. Firefox does not include a native Flash solution like Chrome.

Adobe Flash is going away in 2020; better, support for Adobe Flash ends in 2020. Adobe won't support Flash anymore, and all major browser makers ...

Chrome is getting a 'heavy ad' blocker to speed up browsing, and you can try it now

Google Chrome for desktop is finally getting a dark mode

Google Plans To Block Mixed Content With HTTPS On Chrome Browser

Google Chrome Will Soon Support Lazy Loading at the Browser-Level

How to Install Google Chrome Web Browser on Ubuntu 18.04

Chrome 76: Flash block and making Flash use more annoying