Chrome to automatically pause Flash-based ads

Shawn Knight

Posts: 15,253   +192
Staff member

Google announced a few months back that it was beta testing a feature that would pause non-essential Flash ads by default. The change must have been a success as it will come baked into the public version of Chrome starting September 1.

If you recall, Google’s AdWords advertising division introduced the feature in June as part of its latest Chrome beta release. To help with the change on the advertising end, eligible Flash campaigns are automatically converted to HTML5 when uploaded through AdWords.

Flash has had one foot out the door for some time now and while it’s not likely that this change will be enough to push it past the threshold, it is welcomed news nevertheless as multiple companies continue to distance themselves from the dated platform.

In January, Google’s YouTube replaced Flash with HTML5 as the default setting for video playback and we all know Apple’s opinion on the matter.

Google promises the change will make Chrome faster and less battery intensive but perhaps even more important is a recent change that Google made to make video ads less annoying.

As Google’s Francois Beaufort explained the other day on Google+, the team is testing a feature that will defer playback of auto-play media until you click on a tab. This means that if you open a new tab but don’t get to it right away, media won’t begin playing automatically, forcing you to stop what you’re doing to track it down and silence it.

No word yet on when this feature will make it to the public channel but it’s good to know that it’s in the pipeline.

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Uninstalled Flash months ago. Never regret it. I suddenly realised the web pages using it were run by lazy and uneducated admins. Those still having it on their machines are the slaves of the Devil. Have fun.
 
Uninstalled Flash months ago. Never regret it. I suddenly realised the web pages using it were run by lazy and uneducated admins. Those still having it on their machines are the slaves of the Devil. Have fun.

This is probably the strangest comment I have seen in a long time.
 
Chrome should have done it long time ago 'cause flash or active X will cause website crash or freeze system when there are a lot of tabs in Chrome. After I uninstalled Adobe Flash Player there is no crash anymore.
 
Thank god. I was liking flash before but after the 10000th nag spam message to update it I just deleted it and my life became much better.
 
Uninstalled Flash months ago. Never regret it. I suddenly realised the web pages using it were run by lazy and uneducated admins. Those still having it on their machines are the slaves of the Devil. Have fun.

This is probably the strangest comment I have seen in a long time.

I can only guess that people with certain agendas troll these forums to push their agendas quicker than the natural order of the universe for technologies that are no longer relevant.
Killed Flash on my machine months ago. Was tired of needing next urgent patch to hold off another 0-day.

Time to move on.

So how does your philosophy of killing software that needs urgent 0-day patches come into play when the software is the operating system running on your computer such as Windows or Linux? Do you delete the operating system and then hide in the corner? Wow. These comments. Somebody slap me and wake me up.
 
Thank god. I was liking flash before but after the 10000th nag spam message to update it I just deleted it and my life became much better.

I am guessing it was nagging you to update because your computer was vulnerable because of a security issue? You could have also grabbed a pair of scissors and snipped your Ethernet cables. That would probably make your life better also. No more security issues for you, huh? :)
 
Uninstalled Flash months ago. Never regret it. I suddenly realised the web pages using it were run by lazy and uneducated admins. Those still having it on their machines are the slaves of the Devil. Have fun.

This is probably the strangest comment I have seen in a long time.

I can only guess that people with certain agendas troll these forums to push their agendas quicker than the natural order of the universe for technologies that are no longer relevant.
Killed Flash on my machine months ago. Was tired of needing next urgent patch to hold off another 0-day.

Time to move on.

So how does your philosophy of killing software that needs urgent 0-day patches come into play when the software is the operating system running on your computer such as Windows or Linux? Do you delete the operating system and then hide in the corner? Wow. These comments. Somebody slap me and wake me up.
I'm not sure You got genuine agenda here or just trolling for attention. After some recent Flash vulnerability issues several tech sites reporting on it, including Engadget, were mocked by users for actually using it, and those sites decided to replace it, practically overnight. So, public mockery is genuine way of outcasting outdated solutions. One might say is it our right in a free world. So is your bitchin about it, but You might get a plaque of a troll.
 
I'm not sure You got genuine agenda here or just trolling for attention. After some recent Flash vulnerability issues several tech sites reporting on it, including Engadget, were mocked by users for actually using it, and those sites decided to replace it, practically overnight. So, public mockery is genuine way of outcasting outdated solutions. One might say is it our right in a free world. So is your bitchin about it, but You might get a plaque of a troll.

I define outdated software as software that is no longer being actively updated and/or supported. How do you define it?

It's definitely your right to *****. I just don't understand how Flash is different from any other software that requires a constant,steady, stream of security updates like the operating system you use daily. Can you help me understand the difference if there actually is one.

I find it fascinating that Microsoft has already released an excess number of security patches for Windows 10 and it has been out all of a month. I shudder to think of how many security patches will be released for Windows 10 over the next 10 years of it's life.

OOppss on that big big promise that Windows 10 would be the last operating system ever? LOL. I predict a 180 on this decision before the 10 year mark. Microsoft has made it a practice of executing 180s pretty steady these days.
 
I am guessing it was nagging you to update because your computer was vulnerable because of a security issue? You could have also grabbed a pair of scissors and snipped your Ethernet cables. That would probably make your life better also. No more security issues for you, huh? :)

You are guessing wrong. My computer was never vulnerable, flash was. And flas was vulnerable in the last 5 years or so.
 
I didn't install Flash on my PC but since Chrome has one integrated I guess it's the same thing.
 
I'm not sure You got genuine agenda here or just trolling for attention. After some recent Flash vulnerability issues several tech sites reporting on it, including Engadget, were mocked by users for actually using it, and those sites decided to replace it, practically overnight. So, public mockery is genuine way of outcasting outdated solutions. One might say is it our right in a free world. So is your bitchin about it, but You might get a plaque of a troll.

I define outdated software as software that is no longer being actively updated and/or supported. How do you define it?

It's definitely your right to *****. I just don't understand how Flash is different from any other software that requires a constant,steady, stream of security updates like the operating system you use daily. Can you help me understand the difference if there actually is one.
Because generally speaking, every computer that is web connected is affected by critical flash exploits because (practically) everyone runs Flash from Adobe.

In perspective, the OS market is *heavily* fragmented. It takes a lot more effort to exploit as many machines as Flash. Major players in the market are WinXP, Win7, Win10, iOS, MacOSX, Android, Linux variants plus lots more. A WinXP exploit is only going to affect a small fraction of the market - a smart hacker picks the platform that exposes the most targets.

Flash is a good place to look and has proven to be a rich source of critical holes. Why shop anywhere else?
 
Uninstalled Flash months ago. Never regret it. I suddenly realised the web pages using it were run by lazy and uneducated admins. Those still having it on their machines are the slaves of the Devil. Have fun.
You do know Chrome has flash built in, you CANNOT uninstall it. You CAN disable it within the "about:plugins” page, but I seriously doubt you meant that...
 
You do know Chrome has flash built in, you CANNOT uninstall it. You CAN disable it within the "about:plugins” page, but I seriously doubt you meant that...
Yes did know that one. When the recent critical exploits for flash were revealed, disabling flash on all browsers was a common topic so many here would have heard about Chrome's inbuilt flash.
 
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