Chrome Moves to Limit Push Notifications

From this month, Google Chrome is rolling out new Push API message rate limits for websites that send a high volume of notifications without much user engagement.

Chrome is attempting to improve notification quality

Chrome has already taken several steps to give users more control and reduce notification spam. These include quieter permission prompts for sites with low acceptance rates, machine learning on Android to flag potentially harmful notifications, and automatically removing notification permissions from sites identified as abusive or inactive.

These changes are all part of Google’s wider aim to make notifications safer, more useful, and less intrusive for users.

Introducing Push API rate limits

To build on this, Chrome is now adding rate limits to the Push API based on user engagement. The aim is to prevent excessive, low-value notifications while ensuring legitimate websites can continue using push notifications effectively.

These limits are designed to target misuse, not well-run websites that send relevant and timely updates.

How the rate limiting works

Chrome will assess sites daily using three main factors:

• How many push messages are sent compared to time spent on the site
• How often notification permission prompts are shown compared to time spent on the site
• How engaged users are with the site, based on site engagement scores and active usage

If a site is found to be sending a high number of notifications with very little engagement, it may be rate-limited to a minimum of 1,000 messages per minute. Any requests above this limit will receive an HTTP 429 response.

To stop sites switching behaviour repeatedly, the limits increase in duration if disruptive behaviour continues.

Chrome has also made it clear that these rules may evolve over time as usage patterns change.

Will this affect your website?

This update only applies to the Push API. Websites can still send notifications while open using the Notifications API.

For most websites, there will be no impact at all. The changes are aimed at a small number of sites that send large volumes of low-quality notifications. If your site focuses on relevant, well-timed messages that users actually engage with, you’re unlikely to notice any difference.

Overall, this is a move towards a more balanced and sustainable notification ecosystem, helping ensure push notifications remain useful rather than intrusive.

We hope you’ve liked this blog. Stay tuned for more blogs like this. Stay safe!