Google says Chrome blocks ‘about half’ of unwanted autoplays

Google released Chrome 66 just over two weeks ago. The highlight was that content with sound no longer starts playing unexpectedly until you hit play. Autoplaying content that is muted still plays automatically, but autoplaying content with audio will only start if Chrome has determined that you tend to play content on that site.

Google is trying to strike a balance between forcing you to hit play when you shouldn’t have to and disabling content on websites that automatically play content with sound that you weren’t expecting. Chrome product manager John Pallett, who apparently also has “media muter” in his title, revealed today that “the new policy blocks about half of unwanted autoplays.”