Last Updated on May 24, 2020 by Mathew Diekhake

Google Chrome is receiving an update that brings with it easier to use controls, better control of third-party cookies, easier access to browser extensions, new safety checks, and more.

In recent years Google not only overtook the Microsoft-owned browser for the most used browser in the world but took the lead in a big way to the point where second place isn’t even in the picture. It was a blessing for Google who relies on the Google search engine as an integral part of their business and a search engine goes hand in hand with a browser.

Assuming there was no collusion in how it played out — it doesn’t appear as though there was collusion; Microsoft switched from IE to Edge but the users didn’t follow — Google couldn’t be much happier with how well things turned out. So far, there’s no question that Google has the best browser we’ve ever used, but at the same time, people are far from happy: constant privacy concerns among other things are continually bringing these tech giants into negative conversation.

The new Google Chrome allows you to control cookies easier than before. You used to access the cookie information directly from the URL bar by clicking on the SSL certificate, but now there is a cookie section available from Privacy and Security in the Chrome Settings. You can choose to block third-party cookies altogether for both normal and incognito modes, and block all cookies for some websites if you like.

The new Chrome also has impressive safety features. If you have malicious browser extensions installed (that Chrome is aware of) the browser will let you know how you can remove them. Enhanced security for extensions doesn’t mean that Chrome will let you know all about every browser hijacker or malware that can be found — you still need to rely on antivirus software for that — but extensions are becoming ever more popular and their security needs to be supreme if people are going to put their trust in them.

At the moment we think Google has gone a bit far with these controls. Cookies are necessary for a publication’s revenue — it’s not realistic for the vast majority of websites to survive without ads; even the best of the best generally have a mixture of subscribers and ad-supported content — and we feel the privacy concerns online are overblown. People are far more willing to hand over data, such as what they buy in real life, than they are online for some reason, and it’s hurting online companies. Nevertheless, we trust that Google will eventually head in the right direction because they’ve been the best search engine company so far as well as the best web browser. But it bears repeating that they’re not perfect or anything close to it.

Read more: More intuitive privacy and security controls in Chrome

See also: A safer and more private browsing experience with Secure DNS

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