HomeWinBuzzer NewsMicrosoft Edge Will Silence Annoying Notifications by Scoring Websites

Microsoft Edge Will Silence Annoying Notifications by Scoring Websites

Adaptive Notification Requests in Microsoft Edge will monitor user responses to notification requests and silence sites that are regularly blocked.

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Last summer, signaled its intentions to overhaul notifications to make them less annoying. Launching a feature called “Quiet Notification Requests,” Microsoft gave users more control over browser notifications. Now, the company is back with “adaptive notifications requests,” which expands on the earlier ability.

With Quiet Notification Requests, Microsoft Edge automatically disables notification requests. Websites still send these requests, but Edge essentially mutes them. Instead, the browser places a bell icon in the address bar to let users know a site has notifications if they want them.

At the time, Microsoft said it was replying on user feedback to enhance the new experience. This week, changes made thanks to that feedback have been made.

It seems while Quiet Notification Requests is a handy tool, it was also causing problems. One of them is obvious… website owners complained that the number of users accepting notifications declined. Microsoft found there was a higher acceptance when notifications were visible. Furthermore, Edge users said it was unclear how to turn notifications on for preferred websites.

Details

Microsoft now says Quiet Notifications Requests are now disabled by default. This new approach is called Adaptive Notification Requests and puts more control in the hands of users. Using AI, Microsoft Edge will monitor how users interact with notification requests. If users usually block notifications on a website, the browser will silence prompts automatically.

According to Microsoft, the feature is in a testing phase. What it is essentially doing is giving websites a scorecard based on how users interact with their notification prompts. While this remains a good tool for users, it still seems like it will cause problems for websites.

Edge users can also still choose to silence all notifications in the browser settings. If a site's prompts are ignored three times in a row, Edge will automatically silence all future requests for that user. Adaptive Notification Requests as been in testing through the Canary, Dev, and Beta channels and is now heading to Edge 88.

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Luke Jones
Luke Jones
Luke has been writing about all things tech for more than five years. He is following Microsoft closely to bring you the latest news about Windows, Office, Azure, Skype, HoloLens and all the rest of their products.

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