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Ask HN: Why are browser authors allowing notification spam?

3 points by jakubp ↗ HN
Hi. Nearly every new website I open keeps asking me about allowing "Desktop notifications". Every new browser I start using asks me the same thing, on every popular site, every time, not just web applications where I have an account and I'm logged in.

Why? Who on earth has thought this was a good idea? Why have anyone created a standard which is incredibly annoying, requires opt-out effort, and most importantly, why are Firefox and Chrome following along? /rant

[edit] Same thing with Location permission ("<url> wants to know your location" popup). We know popups are terrible UX. Popups not requested are worse UX. What is going on?

2 comments

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Piskvorrr
Would you rather have the functionality available without prompting? (Me neither). Firefox at least can be configured to deny by default, not sure about Chrome. I do have a handful of sites where notifications or location or camera access are invaluable; everybody else gets an automatic "nope". No more popups!
jakubp
I would rather the browser protect me from all popups, and only enable such a "feature" by specific request.

I did set what you mention now, but my point is, why isn't it the default, and why is it so hidden (e.g. there are multiple settings you need to do to block those popups).

It's not like standard JS popup is worse than this - standard JS popup does not permanently enable website to know a location of a user, or to bug him with notifications outside the browser, i.e. standard popups are less intrusive!