Google Chrome to shame sites that load slowly

Google could soon call out websites that load slowly by displaying a badge of shame within its Chrome web browser.

The tech giant said it believes the web “can do better” and is considering a badge system to encourage developers to up their game when building websites.

Poorly built websites or those using old practices can have an impact on website loading speeds irrespective of the user’s broadband connection.

The company will do this by looking at how long it takes websites to load historically.

“Further along, we may expand this to include identifying when a page is likely to be slow for a user based on their device and network conditions,” the firm said.

“We are being very mindful with our approach to setting the bar for what is considered a good user experience and hope to land on something that is practically achievable by all developers.”

Google is looking into various ways of achieving this, such as a splash screen which appears when the page is loading, warning people that the page “usually loads slow”.

Meanwhile, fast websites would feature a green progress indicator.

The company is urging web developers not to “wait to optimise your site”, offering a number of resources to help improve their loading speeds.