Chrome extensions get a badge

Chrome Web Store. © Google.

It’s not unusual to feel a little apprehensive when installing an extension by an unknown publisher: aside from the security aspect, there’s also the question of the extension’s actual usefulness. One way to address these concerns is to check the source of the extension, as well as user reviews.

Google wants to make this job easier for you, by applying two new badges on extensions to indicate their trustworthiness. The first, Featured, which looks like a prize ribbon, is attached to the extensions that “follow our technical best practices and meet a high standard of user experience and design.” The extension gets this badge after Google looks it over for compliance with its developer program policies. The second badge, which looks like a checkmark, is posted on extensions written by well-established publishers and shows that the publisher is legit. Google says that these developers must have “a consistent positive track record” of services rendered over a certain amount of time and have stayed within the developer policy guidelines. Google claims that it “will take at least a few months of respecting these conditions to qualify.” These new badges should give users some peace of mind when they click the “install” button, without having to worry about malicious extensions that sometimes creep onto the Chrome Web Store.

⇨ The Verge, Chris Welch, “Google rolls out new badges to help people avoid bad Chrome extensions.”

2022-04-20