Google Chrome’s on-device machine learning blocks noisy notification prompts

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Phishing detection uses more than just the URL to see if it matches known fake or malicious sites. The technology is getting better. Machine learning will be used in the browser to help identify websites that make permission requests for notifications and silence them before they show up.

In order to further improve the browsing experience, we're also evolving how people interact with web notifications. On the one hand, page notifications help deliver updates from sites you care about, on the other hand, notification permission prompt can become a nuisance. In order to help people browse the web with minimal interruption, Chrome predicts when permission will be granted and silences them. In the next release of Chrome, we are going to make these predictions on-device.

Image: Google

Image: Google

In a future version of the Chrome browser, the same tech will be used to adjust the browser in real time, surface different buttons like the share icons or voice search at times and places where you are likely to use them, without adding any additional tracking to your phone. It is possible to choose your buttons manually.

The performance improvements that were announced last summer bring the time it takes to calculate the results down to 100 milliseconds. In March, the machine learning model was updated to identify 2.5 times more sites that could be phish attacks or that attempt to deliver malicious downloads. In order to figure out if the language of the page needs to be translated, the machine learning technology behind the Journeys feature has been updated.