Google releases new badges to help customers avoid installing malicious Chrome extensions

Google is attempting to make it easier for Chrome users to install beneficial extensions without having to look into their origins. Two additional badges have been applied to extensions, according to the business. The first, Featured, resembles a prize ribbon and will be displayed on extensions that “follow our technical best practices and meet a high standard of user experience and design,” according to the company.

This is a manual process, according to Google, that includes reviewing extensions for a “enjoyable and intuitive experience,” ensuring developers are using the most up-to-date APIs, and monitoring each extension’s privacy practises and requested permissions. Extensions must also have a descriptive store page that explains their function in order to get the Featured label. Finally, the fundamental functionalities of an extension “must be accessible without additional credentials or payments.”

The second badge will be displayed on Established Publishers extensions. Publishers who “who have verified their identity and demonstrated compliance with the developer programme policies” are granted this one, which has a checkmark design. However, proving your identification isn’t enough to receive the badge.

Developers must also have a “a consistent positive track record” with Google’s services and no outstanding developer policy violations, according to Google. This means that first-time extension publishers will have to demonstrate their worth. “will take at least a few months of respecting these conditions to qualify,” Google says.

Companies cannot pay for either of the new badges, but they can suggest an existing extension to be featured. “It has always been our mission to make it easy for users to find great extensions while recognizing the publishers who create them,” Google’s Debbie Kim wrote in a blog post announcing the badges today. The labels should make it easier for customers to click the install button without fear of harmful extensions making their way onto the Chrome Web Store.