Google Chrome: Difference between revisions

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| Official Website =https://www.google.com/chrome/

| Logo =Google Chrome logo and wordmark (2015).png

|short_description=Search engine}}'''[[wikipedia:Google_Chrome|Google Chrome]]''' is a web browser created by [[Google]]. Since its inception, it has become the most used browser on the internet by a large margin.

|short_description=Search engine}}'''[[wikipedia:Google_Chrome|Google Chrome]]''' is a web browser created by [[Google]] based on [[Chromium]]. Since its inception, it has become the most used browser on the internet by a large margin.

==Consumer impact summary==

===User freedom===

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Google uses the market dominance of their unrelated products and services, such as web search or cloud storage services, to display intrusive messages such as popups aimed to annoy users to the point where they give up and change to Chrome.<ref>{{Cite web |last= |date=2022-08-19 |title=How do I stop Google pop ups asking me to switch my browser to Chrome? |url=https://support.google.com/accounts/thread/175747071/how-do-i-stop-google-pop-ups-asking-me-to-switch-my-browser-to-chrome?hl=en |access-date=2025-03-25 |website=Google Support Community}}</ref> Not because they want to, but to escape the deliberate obstructions Google creates for them when accessing Google services with competing browsers.

Moreover, Google has in the past deliberately degraded performance of their video platform [[YouTube]] for users accessing the website using the competing Firefox browser.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Peterson |first=Jake |date=2023-11-21 |title=How to Stop Google From Artificially Slowing Down YouTube |url=https://lifehacker.com/tech/stop-google-slowing-down-youtube-firefox-edge |access-date=2025-03-25 |website=LifeHacker}}</ref>

Moreover, Google has in the past deliberately degraded performance of their video platform [[YouTube]], as well as Google Docs, for users accessing the website using the competing Firefox browser.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Peterson |first=Jake |date=2023-11-21 |title=How to Stop Google From Artificially Slowing Down YouTube |url=https://lifehacker.com/tech/stop-google-slowing-down-youtube-firefox-edge |access-date=2025-03-25 |website=LifeHacker}}</ref><ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pygWS1ihtF8 The Slow Death Of Firefox...What Happened?] - Logically Answered</ref>

===Discontinuation of Manifest V2 support (''2024'')===

===Discontinuation of Manifest V2 support (2024)===

Google, whose main business is online advertising, has discontinued support for browser extensions using the Manifest V2 standard.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Manifest V2 support timeline |url=https://developer.chrome.com/docs/extensions/develop/migrate/mv2-deprecation-timeline |url-status=live |access-date=5 Apr 2025 |website=[[Google]]}}</ref> This renders advertising/tracking blockers such as uBlock Origin unusable and deactivates the corresponding plugins on update. Only versions with very limited blocking functionality remain usable.

Users who wish to continue to use the web without their every step being traced by Google and other advertising syndicates have no other option but to switch to a different browser such as [[Mozilla]] Firefox or Vivaldi, which have all pledged to retain full Manifest V2 compatibility in their browsers.

=== Bloat monopoly ===

Due to the dominant market share, other web browsers like Firefox are forced to comply with these standards set out by Google in order to be able to access some websites.

The total word count of the W3C specification catalogue was 114 million words as of 2020, making it impossible for anyone besides large resourceful companies to maintain a web browser able to comply with these standards, granting Google a bloat monopoly on web browsing.

In 2021, Google launched [https://lit.dev/ Lit], a web JavaScript framework that forces strict compliance with Google's web standards. It also promotes artificial obsolescence by making it impossible to render pages on older web browsers and older devices with operating systems that are unable to run the latest version of Chrome.

<ref>[https://www.tastyfish.cz/lrs/bloat_monopoly.html LRS Wiki: bloat_monopoly]</ref><ref>[https://www.nuegia.net/articles/open%20letter%20to%20webmasters.xhtml Open Letter To Webmasters]</ref><ref>[https://drewdevault.com/2020/03/18/Reckless-limitless-scope.html The reckless, infinite scope of web browsers] - Drew DeVault</ref><ref>[https://shadow.lifestyle/browsers.xhtml Browsers - Shadow Wiki]</ref>

=== visibilitychange event ===

Chrome was the first web browser to implement the "visibilitychange" JavaScript event. This can be used by websites to detect switching to a different tab and, for example, block background playback like the mobile website of YouTube does.<ref>[https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/Document/visibilitychange_event Document: visibilitychange event - Web APIs | MDN]</ref> On Firefox, extensions can block this detection.<ref>[https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/video-background-play-fix/ Video Background Play Fix – Get this Extension for 🦊 Firefox (en-US)]</ref>

=== Google account requirement to download extensions ===

Since around 2022, a Google account is required to be able to install extensions from the Google Chrome Web Store.<ref>[https://superuser.com/questions/633706/how-to-install-extensions-in-chrome-without-a-google-account How to install extensions in Chrome without a Google Account? - Super User]</ref>

==See also==

@@ Line 6: / Line 6: @@
 | Official Website =https://www.google.com/chrome/
 | Logo =Google Chrome logo and wordmark (2015).png
-|short_description=Search engine}}'''[[wikipedia:Google_Chrome|Google Chrome]]''' is a web browser created by [[Google]]. Since its inception, it has become the most used browser on the internet by a large margin.
+|short_description=Search engine}}'''[[wikipedia:Google_Chrome|Google Chrome]]''' is a web browser created by [[Google]] based on [[Chromium]]. Since its inception, it has become the most used browser on the internet by a large margin.
 ==Consumer impact summary==
 ===User freedom===
@@ Line 23: / Line 23: @@
 Google uses the market dominance of their unrelated products and services, such as web search or cloud storage services, to display intrusive messages such as popups aimed to annoy users to the point where they give up and change to Chrome.<ref>{{Cite web |last= |date=2022-08-19 |title=How do I stop Google pop ups asking me to switch my browser to Chrome? |url=https://support.google.com/accounts/thread/175747071/how-do-i-stop-google-pop-ups-asking-me-to-switch-my-browser-to-chrome?hl=en |access-date=2025-03-25 |website=Google Support Community}}</ref> Not because they want to, but to escape the deliberate obstructions Google creates for them when accessing Google services with competing browsers.
-Moreover, Google has in the past deliberately degraded performance of their video platform [[YouTube]] for users accessing the website using the competing Firefox browser.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Peterson |first=Jake |date=2023-11-21 |title=How to Stop Google From Artificially Slowing Down YouTube |url=https://lifehacker.com/tech/stop-google-slowing-down-youtube-firefox-edge |access-date=2025-03-25 |website=LifeHacker}}</ref>
+Moreover, Google has in the past deliberately degraded performance of their video platform [[YouTube]], as well as Google Docs, for users accessing the website using the competing Firefox browser.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Peterson |first=Jake |date=2023-11-21 |title=How to Stop Google From Artificially Slowing Down YouTube |url=https://lifehacker.com/tech/stop-google-slowing-down-youtube-firefox-edge |access-date=2025-03-25 |website=LifeHacker}}</ref><ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pygWS1ihtF8 The Slow Death Of Firefox...What Happened?] - Logically Answered</ref>
-===Discontinuation of Manifest V2 support (''2024'')===
+===Discontinuation of Manifest V2 support (2024)===
 Google, whose main business is online advertising, has discontinued support for browser extensions using the Manifest V2 standard.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Manifest V2 support timeline |url=https://developer.chrome.com/docs/extensions/develop/migrate/mv2-deprecation-timeline |url-status=live |access-date=5 Apr 2025 |website=[[Google]]}}</ref> This renders advertising/tracking blockers such as uBlock Origin unusable and deactivates the corresponding plugins on update. Only versions with very limited blocking functionality remain usable.
 Users who wish to continue to use the web without their every step being traced by Google and other advertising syndicates have no other option but to switch to a different browser such as [[Mozilla]] Firefox or Vivaldi, which have all pledged to retain full Manifest V2 compatibility in their browsers.
+=== Bloat monopoly ===
+Due to the dominant market share, other web browsers like Firefox are forced to comply with these standards set out by Google in order to be able to access some websites.
+The total word count of the W3C specification catalogue was 114 million words as of 2020, making it impossible for anyone besides large resourceful companies to maintain a web browser able to comply with these standards, granting Google a bloat monopoly on web browsing.
+In 2021, Google launched [https://lit.dev/ Lit], a web JavaScript framework that forces strict compliance with Google's web standards. It also promotes artificial obsolescence by making it impossible to render pages on older web browsers and older devices with operating systems that are unable to run the latest version of Chrome.
+<!--sources for entire section--><ref>[https://www.tastyfish.cz/lrs/bloat_monopoly.html LRS Wiki: bloat_monopoly]</ref><ref>[https://www.nuegia.net/articles/open%20letter%20to%20webmasters.xhtml Open Letter To Webmasters]</ref><ref>[https://drewdevault.com/2020/03/18/Reckless-limitless-scope.html The reckless, infinite scope of web browsers] - Drew DeVault</ref><ref>[https://shadow.lifestyle/browsers.xhtml Browsers - Shadow Wiki]</ref>
+=== visibilitychange event ===
+Chrome was the first web browser to implement the "visibilitychange" JavaScript event. This can be used by websites to detect switching to a different tab and, for example, block background playback like the mobile website of YouTube does.<ref>[https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/Document/visibilitychange_event Document: visibilitychange event - Web APIs &#x7C; MDN]</ref> On Firefox, extensions can block this detection.<ref>[https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/video-background-play-fix/ Video Background Play Fix – Get this Extension for 🦊 Firefox (en-US)]</ref>
+=== Google account requirement to download extensions ===
+Since around 2022, a Google account is required to be able to install extensions from the Google Chrome Web Store.<ref>[https://superuser.com/questions/633706/how-to-install-extensions-in-chrome-without-a-google-account How to install extensions in Chrome without a Google Account? - Super User]</ref>
 ==See also==