Soon, Chrome will warn you about potential subscription scams
What's the story
Starting next month, Google Chrome will flag potential subscriptions scams.
Millions of people, as per Google, fall for these traps and end up paying for services they didn't ask for.
However, the next version of the browser, Chrome 71, will tackle the problem by throwing up warnings whenever such pages are about to be opened.
Here are the finer details.
Problem
What are the subscription scams?
Basically, subscription scams are sites that fool people into subscribing a service by obscuring essential information.
On several occasions, people come across pages that demand phone numbers and then use that information to activate unwanted services like caller-tunes.
The user never provides explicit consent for these services (sometimes they're not even aware) but ends up paying for them on receiving the phone bill.
Chrome's solution
But now, Google will detect such pages
To tackle the issue, Chrome 71 will detect websites with unclear/insufficient subscription information and issue warnings to the end user.
The browser will show a specific page saying that the website lying ahead may charge money and will provide a choice to continue or go back.
Further, Google has specifically detailed some billing practices, which, if not followed, will lead to the warning message.
Best practices
What website owners will have to do?
As per Google, website owners will have to be clear about what the user will be charged for, how much they have to pay, and how frequently (daily, weekly, or monthly).
Every bit of billing information should be clear to the end user so that there is no confusion about payments in the end.
Also, the information should be visible on all the devices.
Do you know?
Second big change in Chrome 71
This will be the second big improvement in Chrome 71. Just last week, the search giant said the browser will entirely ad-block websites if they are found to be serving malicious or shady ads.